Approximate
by Prince Jacque
Summary: What if you found out your life was not your own, but an approximation of someone else's? How would you feel to know your existence has been set up to just be a character to story? Tell me, are you really your own person, or is that, too, a manipulation of your character?
1. Chapter 1

This takes place in the same universe, but several minor changes have been made from the canon. I won't reveal them all at once because it would spoil the story. What I can tell you now is Mizuki's age is changed from 26 to 23. Because I tried to keep this in the same format as the visual novel, a great majority will be told in first-person.

Genres: doppelganger/genderbend, yuri/shojo-ai, drama, romance, sci-fi, mystery.

Warnings/Triggers: blood, explicit sexual content, misgendering, murder, profanity, rape, transphobia, violence.

* * *

"_All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages._" -William Shakespeare.

* * *

"Isn't the concept of a god truly amazing?

To be the author of a novel titled "Life" with humans as the characters?

Isn't it fun to watch events in people's lives fall like dominoes into a giant grand scheme?

To watch lives intertwine in an unspeakable way?

To see who ultimately finds the prize of life, which is love?

...

How entertaining it must be…

…to be the god

…the author

…the operator

…the manipulator…"

* * *

I woke up to the sounds of the modest beeping from my alarm set on my coil. My eyes took their time opening as the dream from last night dissolved into meaningless memories.

"Nn…" a little moan escaped my lips as I sat up. The bed creaked beneath me as I swung my legs over the edge.

"Ack!" I retracted one of my feet as it made contact with a cube shaped object.

"P!"

Of course it was…

I took grasp of the dreaded Usagimodoki that had somehow made its way into my room.

"Under attack! Under attack!"

I silently walked out of my room, down the hall, and into the living room where the sounds of appropriate typing on a keyboard could be heard.

"Oi, Noiz," I said "Keep your Allmates out of my room."

Alternating to only using one hand, the blonde turned to face me with an open palm to accept his one Usagimodoki.

"He must've gotten out while I was in your room last night," he said "I was looking for a pair of headphones."

After he looped the Usagimodoki onto the many around his belt, he returned back to typing with both hands and full attention.

I noticed multiple computer screens were opened around him, emanating their blue light and stale words onto his bright clothing.

"Hacking so early in the morning?" I teased.

"You want us to make money so we can keep living in this apartment, right?" he questioned.

That's right. This is how Noiz paid for our living, by being an information broker. It's a shady and immoral business, I know. But hey, in a place like Midorijima, this is the most innocent thing he can do. And if it keeps a roof over out heads, I'm not one to object.

"Right…" I said, feeling a bit guilty for reminding him of that topic, despite the fact that he didn't care in the slightest "Well, I'm gonna go get ready for school."

"You should stay," said Noiz.

I sighed through my nose.

He says this everyday.

"You're younger than me, Noiz," I said "If anything, you should try to get back in school, yourself."

All I heard from him was a dismissive "Hm," as I made my way back to the bedroom.

I had tried to convince Noiz to go to college before, but honestly, it was a wasted effort. He was happy where he was with his pseudo-career taking care of us, and judging by how well he does it, he doesn't require that much more education than he already has. As for me, I could have easily tossed away the slim chance of getting into college, which is why I'm in my graduating year at 23 instead of 21 like most students are. A lot of things got in my way to guarantee I wouldn't make a decent living, but somehow, I made it here.

With my wet body wrapped in a towel, I leaned over the sink to brush my teeth. I was unable to see my clear reflection due to the steam from my shower fogging up the mirror, but I was able to make out the brown hue of my skin and the white towel wrapped around my head. I spat the stinging foam into the sink before bringing cool water up to my lips to rinse my mouth.

"Hah…" I sighed, wiping my dripping lip with the back of my hand as I walked towards the bathroom door. With one hand opening the door, I exited, releasing all the steam and letting the cool air hit my skin.

I stood before my vanity and snatched off the towel on my head, revealing my short pink hair and sending water droplets everywhere. I plugged in my blow dryer and carelessly dried my hair, challenging myself to blow it in the right places so it could fall in its boy styled pixie cut without me having to use a comb. Of course that never happened and I ended up combing out the kinks anyway.

I stood up and flung the dampened towel off of my body as I approached the closet. "_Brown denim vest, rouge bow tie, white long-sleeved button down shirt, rouge jeans..._" my mind listed off the clothing items like a check list as I picked them off their hangers.

I tossed them onto the bed, walked by and went over to the dresser. When I opened the top left drawer, staring me in the face was a mixed mass of bras, binders, panties, and briefs.

Today, I would be wearing briefs and a binder.

Daily decisions like this reminded me of my identity as a bigender individual. Being bigender means I display two genders. For me, it's male and female. I alternate between identifying as the two genders. Sometimes I'll feel male for a few days. Sometimes I'll feel like a female for just one day. Even though I'm biologically female, periods of times like this are moments when I identify as a male and dress as such. Already looking and sounding pretty androgynous, this works out pretty well in my favor.

When I finished dressing and left the bedroom, I heard Noiz's voice.

"Aoi? Oh yeah, he's getting dressed right now," he was saying "You wanna talk to her?"

Tightening up my bow tie as I approached him from behind, I could see he was on his coil talking to someone.

"'kay," was his final statement before hanging up.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Your brother," said Noiz "He said he's got a surprise for you after school."

"Oh?" I was excited, but that excitement plummeted when I thought of waiting a whole seven hours to receive that surprise "Ugh, I have to wait until the afternoon to get it, though…"

"Why don't you ditch school and go get the surprise now?" Noiz asked with a knowing smirk.

I raised a brow at the blonde "Goodbye, Noiz," I said before turning on my heel, grabbing my brown leather satchel and departing from our humble abode.

* * *

My college days aren't that entertaining here. Not having a dorm room with the other students, I'm not including in all the cliques. It's not like I particularly would have wanted to get involved in the troubles that occur here. It was already quite a trek getting myself into this college. I wasn't prepared to toss it all away via drug overdose and alcohol poisoning at these crazy parties.

"…Aoi Kurosaki…"

Our professor had paused a moment during his lesson to listen to a staff member who had let herself in. In the midst of her whispering, I heard my name and saw their gazes land on me, which soon urged a few other students to take a glance at me.

"Aoi," the professor held no shame in calling my name and curling his fingers in a beckoning motion.

I gave a nod, got out of my seat, and went over to the two of them. The woman who came into the classroom wordlessly lead me over to the side as the professor continued his lesson. I noticed another student beside her.

The student had waves of blonde hair cascading out of her indigo bunny ear hat. She wore a fitted indigo long-sleeved shirt underneath a white polo shirt with a jade green tie. She also had indigo mini shorts that showed a bit of her hip bone with jade green stockings beneath. Her jade green eyes were accented with long eyelashes, a single piercing on one blonde eyebrow and two studs on each of her dimples.

"This is our exchange student from Sweden, Sound Franzen," said the woman "Sound, this is the student I told you about, Aoi Kurosaki…" the blonde only had time to nod as the woman continued speaking to me "Aoi, I'd like you to show Sound around the campus and help her with her bearings."

"Oh, sure, no problem," I said. Of course they would trust a job like this to me. I was the only person in this whole school that didn't get totally shit-faced every night.

"So Sound," said the woman "There's only about…oh, _ten_ minutes left of this class. For now, you'll just sit tight. Aoi will show you around during passing period."

"Okay," said the blonde.

She took a seat in a nearby abandoned seat. I sat back down in my original spot. I'll be blunt, it was a tad awkward that after being introduced to each other, we couldn't fully interact because of these last few minutes of class. But again, it would only be a brief time before Sound and I had a proper meeting.

When the bell rang, I was just finishing up the last few words of the notes I missed when I was being introduced to Sound.

I stood up from my seat, seeing Sound had already made her way to the door frame to wait for me as the other students passed by her. A few of the students took glances at her. Well, she is pretty cute. Those dimple studs are to die for.

"So, where do you want to take me?" she asked when I approached her.

"Well, since it's free period, we can pretty just roam the hallways, preferably the less crowded ones," I said "If you ever want to rest though, we can lounge around outside. How's that?"

"Okay," she said.

As we walked out into the hallway lined with socializing peers, I then thought of some more useful information I could use "Say, Sound, do you know what classes you're going into right now?"

"I haven't gotten all my information set in, yet," she said "I'm still waiting for my parents and my teachers to figure it out."

"Oh, well you _are_ a senior right?" I mean, why else was she given to me, another senior? The school can't be _that _void of reliable students to guide a new girl.

"Technically," she said "I did skip some years."

"Some?" I questioned, looking directly at her "How old are you?" She was about my height. She couldn't be that young.

"19."

"Wh-what?!" I blurted out "How are you a senior?"

She shrugged and looked at me "I guess I'm just one smart cookie."

"_And now I feel ultimately crappy for being a 23 year old senior_," I thought "_How sinful would it be to lie about my age to this girl? Women do it all the time_."

"Well, I was hoping to tell you about your classes if you knew your schedule," I said "It'd save you the trouble of just showing you the entire campus, y'know."

"And we only get twenty minutes, right? I doubt you'd be able to show me everything it that amount of time," she said.

"Exactly my point," I noticed we were coming to the double doors indicating the end of the hallway that lead to the outside campus. "_I guess now's a good time for some fresh air._"

I opened the door for Sound and followed behind her. The crisp afternoon air hit us instantly, carrying the scent of dew and youth.

"We're allowed out here during any passing period and free period," I told Sound as I guided her down the pavement path connected to the door "It's another way to get to classes that are in far away sections of the building. I mainly use it to get to the cafeteria."

I glanced at Sound to see her nodding absent-mindedly as she looked about herself. I assumed she was taking in her surroundings.

"Down the south is, uh...?" When I opened my mouth to speak again, I heard commotion and obnoxious shouts. Something about it seemed all too familiar.

Turning around, I saw a large crowd gathering up. It can only mean two things: a Rhyme fight or a normal fight.

Rhyme is this virtual fight simulation game that's gotten really popular here in Midorijima. Apparently you and a single opponent are pinned against each other and fembot named Usui is the referee. Even though I say fembot, a gorgeous one at that, Usui has a male voice. I've never played it before or witnessed it, but I've heard by word of mouth. Rhyme doesn't seem like fun to me if all you do is fight. Also, my brother has made sure I stay far, far away from it. So there's really no chance of me coming close to it.

"_What the…?_"

I spun around on my heel "Where the hell is Sound?!"

She was just beside me, but now she was nowhere to be found. The chaos of the bustling crowd was spreading and becoming harder to avoid no matter where I went. Most people went indoors already. I didn't have that option. I had to find Sound.

"Oi! Sound!" I called out.

I eased my way through the crowd "Sound!"

I stepped on what I could only assume to be a foot, which earned a "Watch it, ya bastard!" from behind me. He pushed me forward and I didn't catch myself in time.

"Eh?! What the fuck?" the guy I fell into seemed just as pissed that I had interrupted his good time.

"Ack!" I gagged when he snatched me by the collar. Reflexively, I threw my fist at him. He stumbled back, clutching his bleeding nose, and let me go.

That was probably the wrong thing for me to do.

When I stood up, the Rhyme fight I had been trying to find Sound in had now evolved into a full scale street fight. The jeers and hollers had become battle cries and slurs. The fists that had been pumping in the air in excitement were now colliding with skulls and rib cages.

"_If I don't find Sound now_…" I let the thought drop as I dodged a swinging fist "_I probably can't even get inside the school now. They always lock the doors when a fight erupts_."

"HEY, you damn brats!"

The volume of the fight greatly decreased as the voice on what sounded like a megaphone penetrated the air. I glanced over my shoulder.

Over by the water fountain centered on campus was a crowd of police officers surrounding a shaggy-haired pale man with hollow eyes, an oversized trench coat and a green tie.

"ALL YOU PESTS ARE UNDER ARREST!"

"_Oh god, Akushima..._"

Akushima is a detective I consider to be both a curse and a blessing. He's helpful because he diffuses feuds and riots such as this, which help me out at the end of the day. Unfortunately, he's not always the best at showing mercy towards the innocent bystanders who get pulled into havoc, namely me.

Immediately, the brawlers began fleeing in all directions.

"Don't think you can get away so easily! THERE'S NO ESCAPE!"

I dashed around the school building, trying my best to avoid attention by mass groups of the running fighters and the policemen chasing us. My plan was to sneak into the school through the janitors' door that lead outside. Only I know about it, so I'm able to casually slip in, and stroll into the hallways filled with socializing students as though nothing happened.

* * *

It was finally the mid-afternoon, time for me to head home.

After that fight, I didn't catch a hold of Sound. I heard from a few teachers that she went home early. She wasn't hurt, but they didn't know the details. Sometimes I just get so sick of this city's antics. Sound must have gone through some horrible stuff in Sweden to want to move here.

Walking down Aoyami street, I came to a familiar alleyway opening where a brown-eyed man with a blue mullet conversed with my smiling brother.

"Did you finally feel like joining me in Dry Juice?" my brother asked.

The blue-mullet bearing man simply shrugged.

My twin brother's name is Mizuki. Most people recognize us by our rare brown skin, rose colored hair, and bluish eyes. Although, while I have pink hair, his hair is burgundy. And his eyes are more sea-foam green while mine are turquoise.

He's always trying to convince his friend, Aoba, to join his Rib team. It may seem like Mizuki is pestering him from time to time, but if Aoba keeps giving him indefinite answers like that dreaded shrug, Mizuki will never know when to stop.

"Hey guys," I said.

Mizuki turned around.

"Oh, hey Aoi," said Aoba.

"Aoi!" Mizuki instantly greeted me with an open-armed hug.

When he released me, I said "Trying to convince Aoba to join Dry Juice, again I see."

"Er, well…" Mizuki scratched the back of his neck, sheepishly.

"Tch, "again" is right," said Aoba with a roll of the eyes.

"But you've never said yes or no, so I'm always left hanging," said Mizuki "It's always "I don't know" or "I'll think about it" How long does it take to think about?"

"Well in that case, I'll make a decision right here, right now," Aoba paused, pouting a bit, "Nope. No way. It's too much work."

"Aw, what?" gasped Mizuki.

In all honesty, I wasn't that surprised. Aoba wouldn't be hesitating so much if he really wanted to join a team. Mizuki really should have seen this coming and I wanted to tell him that so badly right then.

"You could at least give it a try. There are all sorts of advantages with it," urged Mizuki "Aoi knows. Right?"

"Well, it is nice being a part of a family," I said.

That's really all I care about. I'm not in it for the turf wars and other crap. Like Mizuki said, there's a lot of perks being in Dry Juice. That mainly applies to him because he's the leader of Dry Juice. Me being his twin, I get a fair share of respect. But since Dry Juice is the largest Rib team out there, we're seen as a threat, so people want to start unnecessary drama. I can understand why Aoba wouldn't want to get involved.

"Oh! Aoi, I have a surprise for you," Mizuki suddenly kneeled down to a black duffle bag "You may have heard from Noiz this morning when I called him."

Before I could speak, he said "Close your eyes…"

Something fluffy and soft was placed in my hands. I could feel a metallic skeleton beneath its fur coat.

"An Allmate?" I heard Aoba say.

I opened my eyes and gasped to find a cute pink-furred Tabby cat looking up at me with ruby-red eyes.

"Aoba…" groaned Mizuki "You ruined the surprise."

"Oh, sorry…" he said.

"This is awesome!" I said, cradling the tiny feline.

"You really like it?" questioned Mizuki, seeming unsure.

"Of course I do!" I said, not taking my attention away from it for a second "Thank you so much, nii-chan."

Mizuki blushed when a little bit. Aoba giggled at the delightful sight.

"Heh, you haven't called me that in a long time," Mizuki said with an embarrassed smile.

I couldn't deny a little bit of my feminine side was slipping out from the excitement of being given the Allmate. Pet names like that were an easy way to embarrass Mizuki.

"Reminds me of Sei if you buy him cake," laughed Aoba.

"Oh yeah, Sei…" Mizuki reminisced with a smile.

Sei is Aoba's androgynous twin. I mainly only get to hear about him since he works as a nurse and is pretty busy, but he's pretty fun to Skype chat with late at night. Being androgynous, Sei identifies as both a male _and_ a female at the same time, despite being a biological male. He's the only other genderqueer person I've ever met in my life. I really appreciate the fact that Aoba and Mizuki are okay with Sei and I being genderqueer. When in doubt, I guess you really can always rely on your twin.

"How's she doing?" I asked.

"Great. She's still working at the hospital," said Aoba "She really loves it there."

"That's good to hear. Hey, where do you work again?" I asked.

"Heibon Junk Shop," Aoba said with a little distaste.

"Hm? Aoi, what happened to your nails?"

Mizuki was scrunching his eyebrows at my left hand, whose fingernails were all broken and bent in horrid shapes.

"Agh, I got pulled into a scrap from a Rhyme fight on campus," I said.

Mizuki frowned "Rhyme has become so obnoxious now. It's just a delusional game," he said "What's even the purpose? Fighting turf wars in a virtual reality instead of on the streets?"

"Well, duh," I said "Unlike street fights, there's no risk of dying, it's legal, and there's less injury. Rhyme is the perfect place to peacefully settle turf wars."

Mizuki still wasn't pleased "It's still stupid. And what's worse is Ribsters are actually siding with Rhyme."

"It's just a lame fad. They'll get over it," I reasoned, patting Mizuki's back, which was a bad idea because it chipped one of my bent fingernails off.

Aoba, noticing this, said "Aoi, there's a nail salon Sei goes to that just opened across the street from Koujaku's shop."

"Who's…Koujaku?"

Both Mizuki and Aoba gave me funny looks.

"You've…never heard of Koujaku's hair salon?" Aoba asked "The one always swarming with women?"

I shook my head.

"Aoi…?" Mizuki raised a burgundy brow at my ignorance.

"Well, Koujaku's an old childhood friend of mine," Aoba explained "I'll text you the address to both shops."

As Aoba typed on his coil, Mizuki asked me "You've seriously never heard of Koujaku? The leader of Benishigure?"

"C'mon Mizuki, you know as well as I do that I'm not that into Rib teams like you," I then lowered my voice "We joined Dry Juice so we could have a real family, y'know."

Mizuki gave me an understanding look.

My coil beeped as it received Aoba's message.

"Thanks, Aoba," I said as I checked my coil.

After memorizing the directions, I made my way down the street as Mizuki and Aoba reignited a conversation that grew quieter the farther away I walked.

I gasped as a sudden force came dangerously close to me, causing me to stumble and fall to my knees.

"H-Hey!" I croaked.

The force was a young woman on a motorcycle. I was hardly able to capture her appearance as she only took a split-second glance at me before zooming off again. All I could catch was that she had braids and dressed mainly in gray and black.

"Aoi!" Mizuki cried out, running up behind me.

The minute I stood up, his protective hands were on my arms "Are you hurt? Can you stand?"

"I'm okay," I told my flustered brother.

Aoba caught up to us "The traffic in this city is ridiculous!"

"Aoi, maybe I should walk you to the salon…"

"What? Oh come on, it's not like this is uncommon," I shrugged off "I'll be fine. Just trust me."

I looked back in the direction of the biker, only to catch a glimpse of my newly bought Allmate's limp body on the concrete. It must have flown from my hands when I fell forward.

"Tch," I approached it and stowed it away in my leather satchel.

"_So help me if that woman broke my Allmate_…"

"Alright…" Mizuki said, still sounding unsure "Just make sure you avoid walking on the edge of the sidewalk…and watch out for your surroundings."

"Will do," I said.

* * *

"Oooh…"

When I followed Aoba's directions, I found myself standing before a petite silver building with a stylish lotus flower sign.

When I turned around behind me, the building across the street seemed rather bland.

"_Surprisingly void of women_," I thought "_Aoba, you liar_."

I turned back to face the salon before me and opened the door, ringing a cute little bell above my head.

"Oh hello!"

A woman who had been sitting behind a gold-rimmed desk came around to greet me. She was a little taller than me and had ruby red eyes. Her black hair was worn in a neat ponytail held together with a red pair of chopsticks. They matched the short red qipao she wore with flesh colored stockings beneath.

"Hi," I said "I heard from a friend you just opened up a while ago, so I came to get my nails fixed."

"fixed" seemed like the only appropriate word for their condition. In fact, when the woman took my hands into hers, her face fell a little.

"Oh, my…" she said "Well, you came to the right place. Come right with me."

She lead me over to one of the many manicure stations, which I couldn't help but notice were all empty.

I sat down and she began removing my red nail polish. That's when I noticed not only where all the stations empty, but pretty much the entire salon was empty.

"So you heard from a friend I just opened up recently?" the woman asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Well, I know it doesn't look nice right now, but I'm in the beginnings of jumpstarting an independent nail salon business," she explained "Because it's just me right now, I can only open shop on certain days and take so many customers at a time."

"Oh, sounds nice," I said "It's good that you're starting something yourself."

She began clipping away what used to be my long nails "Aw, you think so?" she asked bashfully.

"Of course. Like you said, it's an independent business," I said "So, what's the name of the salon called? I didn't see it outside."

"Oh, I'm still in the midst of getting the sign painted," she said "I call it Jakuzure Spot, after my surname."

"I love it," I said "Jakuzure? What's your first name? If you don't mind me asking."

"Kou. Kou Jakuzure," she said "And what's yours, if you don't mind _me_ asking?" she winked a bit.

"Aoi Kurosaki," I said "I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on, hm?"

With a final clip of my pinkie nail she said "Seems so."


	2. Chapter 2

I walked down the apartment hall with my leather satchel slung over my shoulder holding more weight than it did any other day. The jingling sounds of metal sounded as I picked my keys out of my pocket and approached the door next to the last one at the end of the hallway. I opened the door, relieved the get home, and stepped inside.

"Noiz!" I called out before closing the door behind me.

I was greeted with silence.

I knew the he was quiet and introverted, but he knew when to raise his voice when the time called for it.

"Ah man…Noiz!" I tried again, moving from the front room he usually lounged about in to the kitchen, down the hall, to his bedroom, to the back room. But no matter where I went, he was gone.

"Crap…"

He couldn't have picked a worse time to leave. Noiz has a habit of taking random days in the week to leave the house for large periods of time, usually ranging from four to seven hours. I haven't the slightest idea what he does during this time and I've tried to ask, but typically, all I get in return is an a bratty teenage attitude with a "None of your business."

I really wanted him to be home so he could help me set up this Allmate of mine. I mean, Noiz taught me a lot about technology, but with the hectic day I just had, I was ready to just dump the thing on him with a list of settings I wanted. However, with him gone, I had to do the dirty work, myself.

"_Whatever, it can't be helped._"

I sat down at the kitchen table and let my fingers go to work. All of this was second nature to me and my tired mind was somehow able to get the settings just right.

Twenty minutes later, the pink tabby cat's ruby red eyes blinked all on their own. "Aoi, what name would you like to give me?" she asked.

I leaned in and mused a little "Rei," I said.

* * *

Sitting in class, my leg shook anxiously as the clock ticked. I was the first one to get to class because I was so early. Even the professor was surprised by my earliness. I couldn't help myself. I was worried for Sound. She was my responsibility and I let her get swept away in that ruckus yesterday. Even if the teachers say she went home early, I still can't bring myself to assume she's perfectly fine. Who knows if someone beat her up to get her out of the way or if Akushima arrested her in the confusion? I'm disgusted just thinking about it.

"Ah…?" Just as the classroom was halfway full, a gasp escapes my lips as the blonde sat down in her desk.

"Sound!" Having class not begun yet, I had the freedom of going over to her desk to speak with her.

She regarded me with a casual glance "Oh hey," she said.

"_Oh hey_"?! That's all she has to say?!

"You're alright?" I asked "What happened to you after that Rhyme fight on campus?"

She shrugged "I decided to sneak around the back to try to get back inside," she said "But the doors were locked so I called my boyfriend and he took me home."

"_Boyfriend?_" I thought "_Why should I be surprised? This girl's a perfect cutie._"

"Oh? Well that was nice of him," I then chuckled "We'll avoid going outside from now on, then."

The door closed as the last student entered the classroom.

"Alright class, everyone too your seats."

That means me.

"Later," I told Sound, who gave me a silent nod.

* * *

We did the same thing again, waiting for class to end before I would show Sound around. I glanced every so often at her to see how she was doing. Surprisingly, she seemed to be catching on pretty quickly. She didn't look very lost or anything, but that wasn't exactly my place to assume until I asked her later on during free period.

I waited by the outside of the door, anticipating the sight of her exiting the classroom.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey there," I replied with a smile "Sorry I wasn't able to sit next to you during class and help you out with notes and everything. I'm sure there's something you wanna go over?"

"Nope," she said.

I raised a brow "Wh-nothing? It's all brand new."

"I know, but I didn't have any problem getting all the information," said Sound "Should we start walking now?"

"Oh-h, sure," I didn't even realize we were still standing by the doorway. I was too stunned by Sound's seemingly limitless intellect. Whoever her boyfriend is is a lucky man. Beauty and brains, but sadly, not much of dynamic personality that I can spot. I can't tell if she's just shy because she's new or if she's just a natural introvert.

"So, did you get your class schedule ready?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Sound stopped and dug into her breast pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. When she unfolded it, it displayed a daily schedule akin to mine. I figured she wouldn't have her classes divided amongst days in the week like most college students when she showed up in my first period algebra class twice in a row.

"_History, Chemistry, and Literature_," I thought as I read the list "_She's like me. She's only here for the basic classes and nothing more._"

"Well, the seniors' Literature class is just around this corner," I said "Let's head there first."

"Sure."

Free period continued on like that. I briefly showed Sound around the classes and told her a little bit about each course. She absorbed the information quickly without question, resulting in a lot of nods, okay's, and yeah's. I should have been thankful that she was easy to guide and teach, but I couldn't help but feel a little bored by her lack of response. Maybe she just wasn't the talkative type, but wow, give me some kind of challenge.

"V!"

I turned around at the sound of the high-pitched, digital voice sticking out from the chatter of the hallways.

"Oh, I forgot to turn off Getsumento," I heard Sound mumble to herself. She turned about herself, jutting out her hip and reaching towards the belt loop on her right side. Around the leather loop of her shorts with a tiny chain of what looked like large jade-colored marbles. The largest one had a bunny face on it with little ears and paws.

Sound pressed on a button and shut down the device.

"Is that your Allmate?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said "Sometimes she turns on by herself if I sit down wrong. It's one of those Allmates designed more so as an accessory than a pet."

"I see," I said "Getsumento, huh? That's a nice name."

"Thanks," she said, rather lowly and fast "So, what's your Allmate like?"

I couldn't help perking up a little at the mention of my present "Oh, I just got one yesterday," I reached into my satchel and pulled out the pink tabby cat "Her name's Rei."

Sound mused as she studied the Allmate like a prize, but then she smirked as she caressed Rei's head.

"Looks like someone knows how to treat you right," she said.

"Huh?"

Between her nails, was a price tag still attached to Rei's collar that I had forgotten to take off, but that's not all she was referring to. Her hands then slipped to the actual collar on Rei and opened a little heart-shaped card I didn't even notice.

It read "_With love, Mizuki._"

"From your boyfriend, right?" posed Sound.

"Oh…Oh! No," I tried not to laugh, having Mizuki confused as my lover "Mizuki's my twin brother. He got this for me yesterday."

"Oh," Sound almost looked disappointed, as if the topic of boyfriends fascinates her.

"_That's cute; she's such a teenager_," I couldn't help but think to myself.

We still had ten more minutes left of free period. I could have offered to walk her to her next class before I turned back to mine, but before I could say anything, she seemed to flinch before saying "I'm going to the bathroom."

Before I could even ask if she knew where it was, she hurried off, appearing to hold her side.

"I-What the-" I paused.

"_I'll just assume it's that time of the month._"

* * *

I walked home, Rei wrapped around my shoulders like a towel.

"How're you feeling, girl?" I asked.

"I'm fine. How are you feeling, Aoi? Am I adding any extra weight?" she asked.

"No," I said, shaking my head, causing her soft fur to brush against my hair neck.

Approaching my apartment building, Noiz looked down at me from the concrete ledge of a little garden spot and said "You got an Allmate?"

I walked up to him "Yeah," I then climbed up to the concrete ledge and sat beside him "It was Mizuki's surprise."

"Sweet," said Noiz, who I could now see was chewing on something "Here," he offered an unopened pack of sushi and a handful of churros to me. He, himself, was eating a pizza hot pocket. The guy loved pizza and pasta variety style foods. You'd easily think he was Italian with his picky tastes, but surprisingly, he's German.

"Thanks," I said, accepting the food.

This is usually how we eat. We're not the typical kind of people to get full course meals. Rather, one, or both of us goes out to grab a handful of random food components that look good to us at the moment; emphasis on "random". For dinner, we could come home with mozzarella sticks, sliced apples and caramel dip, shrimp, and chocolate chip cookies. It's actually a lot of good fun that way.

Noiz gagged a little "It's so sweet."

"Then stop eating my food," I said.

Noiz had a bad habit of having a curious eye and taking a bite of my food when he saw how much I enjoyed it. He ended up disliking most of it since I had such a sweet tooth. Through me, he discovered he disliked several fruits and pastries, including churros.

"You can see it's literally coated it sugar and jelly-filled," I began "Why'd you eat it?"

"I dunno."

"Hey Aoi!"

I looked down to see Mizuki waving to us.

"Hi!" I greeted, but then whipped my head around when I felt the weight on my chopsticks shift and disappear.

Noiz sat there chewing with rice specks clinging to his snake bite piercings.

"Tch, Noiz…"

"I like spicy tuna," he said.

Mizuki climbed onto the ledge beside me "How are you doing, Aoi?" he side-glanced Noiz a little bit "Are you two getting along?"

"Of course we are," I said "Why wouldn't we?"

Mizuki sighed and said "Just making sure."

Mizuki has always been a little bit on edge about me having Noiz as a housemate. That's why he's always checking on me and purposely calling Noiz to ask about me. So when I didn't drop by his little alleyway with Aoba after school today, I should have expected him to come by here.

"I see your dinner's all set up," Mizuki purposely put on a fake smile at our array of snacks on the concrete ledge, clearly unimpressed.

"Mm-hm," I said, stuffing my cheeks with a piece of shrimp sushi, purposely trying to look satisfied.

"You know, if you ever want to come to my house for some curry, I wouldn't mind," he said "In fact, I have some at home right now. You can stop by and take a container full if you want to."

I looked over to Noiz "Hey Noiz, would you like some curry?"

Noiz swallowed his food "Sure," he said.

I looked back to my frowning brother.

"Aoi…" he said with an exhausted voice.

I snickered, wrapped up my food, and leapt from the ledge.

Mizuki sighed and followed suit.

"I'll be back in a jiffy," I told Noiz.

Noiz waved me goodbye as he chewed the stringy cheese on his hot pocket.

As we walked away, Mizuki and I were silent for a few minutes.

Finally, I decided to ask "Why don't you like Noiz?"

"I-It's just, y'know, he's a guy," said Mizuki.

"What the- so are you!" I said.

"I know, but, it's different," he said "I'm your brother."

"So?" I questioned.

Mizuki hesitated, releasing a soft breath.

I tried my best to suppress a groan. I just wanted him to get to the point already.

"I know you're not female, but, you still have…" Mizuki shuddered.

"Hm?" I furrowed my brows in confusion and waited "What…?"

Mizuki swallowed as if what he was about to say made him sick to his stomach. He tried again "You see...I know you're not a woman, but that doesn't mean, Noiz, a man, still can't...like..."

When I looked at Mizuki, I could see he was blushing some.

I halted and backed away from him "Good god, Mizuki…!" I had finally realized what he had meant.

"I-I-I'm just worried that-"

"Dude!" I playfully punched him in the arm.

"Ow! Aoi, don't be so rough!" he whined.

"What happens below my pants and in my bed should never cross your mind!" I scolded "And that was a sissy hit, you baby. I'd never hit you for real."

Honestly, I knew Mizuki was protective and thought of me, but to think he'd _think_ this far was just too much.

"Look, I just don't want Noiz to take advantage of you," said Mizuki.

"Take advantage…" I sighed the words as I continued walking forward, allowing Mizuki to walk with me "He's four years younger than me, Mizuki! As if the kid can do anything."

"That's not that big of an age difference, Aoi," said Mizuki "Besides, he's just about the same size as you, if not taller. He can do anything."

I rolled my eyes "Even if he could, he's not into genderqueers," I said.

"_As if anyone is_…" I thought.

Mizuki sighed tiredly and said "Aoi, you're so naive. I know how men are. They don't care what shape or form it comes in. Men will chase after anything with a vagina."

A choke locked in the back of my throat at Mizuki's bluntness. He must be getting tired of my defiance if he was dropping his gentlemen mannerisms and getting right down to the raw terms.

"If I promise to protect myself around Noiz, will you stop becoming a Sex Ed teacher?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

There was another interim of long awkward silence. It's not every night you talk about your virginity with your brother.

"You know…Aoba's not doing so well," Mizuki finally spoke up.

My concern spiked up "What? What's wrong?"

Mizuki sighed and said "He got pulled into a drive-by Rhyme fight, like, _into_ the actual Rhyme game."

"Drive-by?" I gasped "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's just exhausted," explained Mizuki "It was so weird…He said his opponent was a guy in a lab coat and a green bunny costume head. He also said the guy used a voice modifier or something so he sounded really distorted."

I shivered at the image "That sounds creepy as hell," I said as we approached Mizuki's home.

Although it was a two-level house, it was small enough for a modest family of three. I've been there quite a few times so I've seen the grand bedroom intended for parents, the bedroom intended for a single child, and the one guest room.

We walked into the dim house, taking a short trip down the hallway from the front room to the kitchen.

"Watch your step."

"Ow! My god, Mizuki. Do you ever clean?"

Mizuki flicked on the kitchen light revealing I had stubbed my toe on one of the chairs.

"What's the chair doing so far away from the table?" I couldn't help but nag.

"Hey, hey, Aoi," he tried to calm me down "Don't get so cranky. I'm bringing you food."

I sighed and pulled the chair over to the table to sit down.

Mizuki opened his refrigerator and bent over to dig in and find the curry. I noticed the contents of the refrigerator were practically overfilled.

"You sure have a lot of food for someone who's living alone," I commented.

He stood up, a large container of curry in hand "It's better to have a home-cooked meal than just having a guy stock-pile snacks for you."

"Tch," I clicked my teeth in distaste "I eat what I like."

Mizuki placed an empty medium-sized container and the large container of curry on the table "You have to eat healthier than what Noiz is feeding you, Aoi," he poked at my stomach "You're losing weight."

I sighed and said "Just fill up the container for Noiz."

Mizuki's worried glance turned into a smirk "Only if you promise to eat some."

"Fine, fine," I said.

He chuckled a little with a satisfied smile. I swear, his whole being relies on Dry Juice and keeping me safe, but with the life we lived, I can't really blame him for the latter.

"Aoi, there's a new free app on your coil for horoscopes," Rei spoke up for the first time in a long while. I had really only set her to become an extension of my coil. So she didn't have much to say until she fully developed a personality of her own. Aoba goes as far to set Ren to keep track of his health and mental state. I couldn't do that, too invasive.

I shifted my shoulders so Rei could stand on the other side of the table.

"Really? I'll check it out," I opened up my coil and was instantly greeted with a horoscope app offer as Rei predicted.

"The app sends monthly updates of your fate according to your astronomical sign, Chinese zodiac, birth stone, and other various horoscopes," said Rei "Would you like to download this, Aoi?"

"Hmm," I wasn't sure if it was worth the time.

"You should try it," said Mizuki "Aoba got it yesterday and he likes it."

I shrugged and clicked "accept".

As I waited for the download, Mizuki closed the lid on both containers, put the large container back in the fridge, and tied the medium-sized container in a plastic bag for me.

"Ah, Aoi, the download is finished," announced Rei, walking up to me on the table.

"Great!" I opened up the coil to see what my horoscope would say.

After waiting for it to process my birth date, birth year, birth stone, and other birth-related information from my account, the horoscope finally appeared.

"Huh?"

It said: "_Parallelism. Similarity. Corresponding. Approximate. Opposite? No. Inverse. Maybe._"

"Uh…" Mizuki uttered as he eyed the screen on my coil over my shoulder.

"Maybe it's one of those poetic, ambiguous messages," said Rei "Understanding it instantly would ruin the effect."

"Hm, maybe," I said.

"_But how could this possibly mean anything for me?_"

I took the bag with the curry inside "Well, thanks for the food, Mizuki," I said.

"No problem," he said.

I kissed him on the cheek and leaned over the table to get Rei "C'mon, Rei."

"Okay," she said, hopping on my shoulder.

"Bye, Aoi."

"Later, Mizuki."

I exited his house and walked down the street. By this time in the afternoon, the streets were more buzzing with activity than earlier. Kids from grade school were coming home. Most people who worked traditional work hours were also returning home. Unfortunately, bigger crowds also means higher chances of…

"Rhyme Match!"

I raised an annoyed brow at the deep bellow that announced the match. I just wanted to get home and get this curry to Noiz. Although, he was probably already full so the intent was really for him to just have something to eat later.

The crowd of the Rhyme fight was deep in this alleyway on my left side, but it was nothing I couldn't just walk past. It's not like the crowd was spilling out of the alley and onto the sidewalk.

Just as I took the first few steps past the alley's opening, two tall women stopped me.

"Hello Aoi…"

"…Remember us?"

The first one who had spoken was a smiling woman with her blonde hair tied back in a bird tail style with a fringe swept over her forehead and white-rimmed glasses over her blue eyes. She adorned a black suit jacket with a white blouse and gold and blue plaid tie beneath. A matching tight black skirt hugged her thighs and beneath those were black stockings and white high heels.

The bustier woman beside her wore her long blonde hair down, but with the same fringe over her forehead. She wore a gold and blue plaid sweater vest with a black tie and long-sleeved white blouse, a short pleated mini skirt of the same plaid pattern showed off her thick thighs and her white shoes.

"Huh?" I asked.

They seemed to be vixens for a man's fantasy; two alluring blonde women with voices of silk and superficial poses that made them appaear tall and goddess-like when they should have just been standing casually on the sidewalk.

"It's been a long time hasn't it?" asked the bespectacled one "23 years to be exact."

Suddenly, a sharp pain penetrated the side of my head.

"Hng…!" I groaned and grasped the spot.

"Aoi!" Rei exclaimed in concern.

The bespectacled woman chuckled "I see you're still vulnerable to _that_ side of you."

"I'd be careful if I were you, Aoi," teased the bustier blonde.

"Aoi, what happened?" Rei asked.

Rubbing my head, I said "I…I just got hit with a migraine." I then looked up to the blondes and questioned "Who are you two? How do you know my name?"

The bespectacled blonde chuckled again "Oh don't worry, Aoi. In time, all your memories will come flooding back."

"_Memories? What is she talking about? I never forgot anything,_" I thought.

"Who sent you?" I said "What Rib team are you from?"

"Rib?" the bespectacled one repeated "Oh please. We're so much higher than your petty Rib teams."

"Aoi, I think we should avoid staying here any longer," Rei advised "These two seem dangerous and this Rhyme fight nearby is and even bigger danger."

"Okay Rei, but I-" another sharp pain racked my cranium "Agh…!"

"_What's going on?_" I thought "_It seems like the more I talk to these two, the more my head pounds, and the more…weak…I feel…_"

I collapsed, but didn't fall unconscious right away.

"Aoi!" I heard Rei exclaim as she crawled onto the concrete beside me to nudge my shoulder.

"Huh, well that was fast," I heard the bustier girl say "Not much fun."

"Oh believe me, we'll get to have so much more fun with her later…" devilishly said the bespectacled girl before I completely blacked out.

Even in the unconsciousness, where I couldn't feel the sense of having a body, my head would occasionally pound with pain and I would have to hear the echoes of my pained groans.

It may have been my imagination, but over time, each wave of pain slowly began to sound more and more like a heartbeat. Eventually, the darkness began to morph and take a certain shape as my "eyes" adjusted to it. When I was finally able to make out the image, I was shocked.

Standing before me for what felt like an hour was…me.

The me I was looking at had this look of greed and lust in his eyes. His arms were outstretched as if he were desperately hoping to receive the loving embrace of a person. However, that wasn't what shocked me the most. What shocked me was that this "me" was stark naked, but had a completely male body.

Why?

Why am I seeing this?

"_Heal_…."

Just as I heard my voice say this, another wave of pain reverberated around my head.

"_Heal them_…."

Pound.

"_Heal their wounds_…."

Pound.

"_All of them…every last one_…"

Pound.

* * *

I woke up in a cold sweat with a sharp intake of breath.

I was on the couch in the front room of my apartment. Noiz sat in a beanbag chair beside me, staring right at me.

"It's about time you wake up," he said. He then sighed "Don't give me a heart attack like that again."

It was then my turn to sigh, in relief "I can't thank you enough, Noiz."

"You don't have to," he then handed me a small fluff of pink fur "Here. She used your coil to call me since you were only two blocks away."

I accepted Rei and placed her on my stomach "Thank you," I weakly said.

"You're welcome," promptly said Rei "Should I have alerted Mizuki?"

My senses jumped at the thought "No!" He, of all people, should be the last one to hear about this, especially after I just left his house hearing his his concerns about my living conditions.

"Please, Rei. From now on, if a situation like that comes up, try calling anyone else besides Mizuki," I told her.

"Understood," she said.


	3. Chapter 3

I never realized that DRAMAtical Murder is a technical same-sex harem game. So Approximate is an actual harem when you think about it. Sure, Aoi is the same sex as the girls, but not the same gender.

* * *

"You sure you wanna go to school today after last night? You could always ditch."

I frowned up at Noiz, who sat innocently with his legs crossed and a faint trace of a coy smirk on his mouth.

"The migraine is gone," I said, tying my neck bow "And I'm no ditcher."

After I tightened the rouge cloth a bit more, I then said "Listen, I'm heading to the hospital after school to get some a migraine subscription. If Mizuki asks where I am, tell him I'm staying after school for a project."

"Got it," said the blond, absentmindedly opening up some computer screens to begin his daily hacking.

"Thank you," I raised my arm in the direction of the kitchen counter where Rei had officially made her residence "C'mere, Rei."

The pink feline's ruby red eyes opened upon hearing her name and she immediately stood up and crawled up my arm where I would take her into my clutches.

"Bye, Noiz," I said, approaching the door.

"Later," I heard him reply once I left.

I placed Rei in my satchel before I walked down the hallway to the elevator at the end. Aside from the morning grogginess, I was so relieved to be rid of the discomfort from last night's migraine. The feeling was enough to turn this dull scheduled morning into something close to a blessing for me.

"Aoi, are you not going to put me into sleep mode?" I heard Rei ask once the elevator began to reach the ground level.

"Yeah, about that," I started to say just as the doors opened "I thinks it's safer to keep you on while I'm walking the streets alone. Things get rough out here in the East District."

"Midorijima is a relatively scratchy island in Japan, altogether," Rei corrected as I walked out into the lobby.

"All except for Platinum Jail…" I mumbled with distaste.

Platinum Jail is a duo upperclass portion of Midorijima that is literally sectioned off from the rest of the island. One half is run by President Toue and the other half is run by President Ueto. They're not exactly competing forces, but they also don't see completely eye to eye. It's best to just say they compliment one another and just work best as a duo of two separate forces. The only way people can live there is by wealth or being invited by the presidents, themselves.

You would think I'd be upset to be treated as street scum like the rest of the Old Resident District, but really, wealth isn't everything. I'm just lucky to be where I am right now.

"Wh…Wh-Whoa wait-!"

I tried to get out of the way, but ultimately failed as something fell directly on top of me.

"Aoi!" I heard Rei exclaim before I could register anything else.

After getting the faze out of my mind from the impact, I could only see darkness as something soft and warm lied on top of my face. Whatever else was on top of the rest of my body was heavy.

"Hrg…" I lifted my leg up in an effort to get up, but accidentally kneed something.

"Ouch!" a girlish yelp erupted above my head.

"Eh?"

"What the…?"

As I slowly sat up, both Rei and I were shocked to find what had fallen onto me and was now straddling my hips was a woman. She had pale pink lips to accent her scruffy snow white hair. Below one of her pink eyes were two beauty marks. Cradling her round face was a yellow scarf sitting over a white polo shirt short enough to show her belly button. Over that was an over-sized white rain coat and an ironically tight blue miniskirt and white knee boots.

"Sorry…" she cooed "Master, are you okay?"

I had multiple concerns swarming in my mind at the moment, mainly concerning the woman's well-being or what even happened for her to fall onto me like that, but all of them momentarily ceased when she gave me this title.

"Master?" I repeated, in a quiet and unsure voice.

She nodded "I heard your voice. So I came to you, Master."

"_Oh my god…_" the worst idea came to me "_Please tell me she didn't hit her head and became delusional or something. Is that even possible? Wouldn't she have gone into a coma first?_"

"Okay, I think you have me confused for someone else," I attempted to explain "I've never been anyone's…"master" or anything."

The woman furrowed her white eyebrows and blinked "But you're my master."

That conversation was painful. She seemed like an extremely fragile and vulnerable person and I just met her. Trying to say no to this woman was honestly making me very nervous.

"I'm sorry, but I've never met you," I said.

The woman smiled "Well, we're meeting each other now," she extended her hand "I'm Clarity."

As uncomfortable with this as I was, I couldn't bring myself to deny the friendly gesture.

"I'm Aoi," I took her hand into mine and gave it a gentle shake. At that moment, I noticed she was wearing white gloves. I would have wrote this off as another thing to question about Clarity judging from her previous behavior, but then I remembered both my brother and his friend wear gloves and never take them off for any situation. So I had no room to pass judgement. If anything, I'd say Clarity is the most tamely dressed woman I've seen around here.

"_Good for her_," I thought.

"Master, what would you like to do today?" the white-haired woman asked.

"_Uh-oh_," I wasn't too keen on the idea of committing to her as a friend. I just wanted to be hospitable.

"Please don't call me master," I said before immediately switching to her question "I have to go to school. You should…umm, head home?"

Surprisingly, Clarity nodded with a smile "Okay!" stood up and began to skip away, humming a tune that sounded sweet to my ears.

Once she had turned a corner and was out of earshot, Rei commented "Strange girl, isn't she?"

"Well…" I sighed, fishing for a decent answer "It's nice to have happy-go-lucky's around nowadays. The world needs more of those."

I leaned down to pick up the pink tabby and the satchel she fell out of "You didn't get hurt when I dropped you, did you?" I questioned.

"No," said Rei "Now let's hurry. We wouldn't want to be late."

"Right."

* * *

Aside from the strange arrival of the Lady in White, the day went pretty normally. I studied a little bit with Sound wherever I found the opportunity. I finished my history essay. I found out I got an average streak of B's in the last three math tests. It was pretty much just more good news after the next, but it didn't stop there.

"A-Aoi…?"

"Hm?" Just as I was exiting the school doors to call it a day, I stopped when I heard Sound, who is standing by the doorway nervously fondling the front of her shirt tail.

This was pretty strange since we never see each other at the very end of the day.

"My boyfriend can't come to pick me up…" she said, biting her lip in hesitance "It's not a problem if I walk home with you, right?"

I shrugged "Of course you can walk with me," I said "I'm gonna stop by the hospital, though, to pick up some medicine really quick."

"That's okay. I don't care," Sound said quickly.

She seemed pretty enthusiastic to come with me, but not like she was joyous to be around me, but almost like it made her antsy _not_ walking with me.

"Well alright then," I said, making a small arm gesture to signal her to follow me.

We've discussed our living whereabouts before, so Sound knew how far away her house was from mine. Apparently, she alternates between staying at with her parents and staying at her boyfriend's house because her boyfriend independently owns a home. She's never told me exactly where in the East District the houses are, but she makes it clear that if she ever wanted to, she could easily walk from my apartment to either one of her homes.

"You know, Sound, I noticed your nails were painted," I said "Who does them?"

"If not me, my little sister, Nora," the blonde replied.

"Oh, well the reason I asked is because an acquaintance of mine opened up a nail salon recently," I explained "You may have heard of it; The Jakuzure Spot?"

"Hm, never heard of it until now," said Sound, who then looked down at her silver glittery nails "They're really starting to chip…"

"Wanna go tomorrow?" I asked "I'm thinking of getting my toenails this time."

Surprisingly, a little bit of light sparked in the blonde's jade green eyes "Sure…"

I smiled "_Looks like I finally got this girl to come out of her shell._"

"Master!"

We had just made a little distance into the streets of the East District when we encountered the familiar voice from this morning.

"Oh no…" I said.

"Not again…" said Rei.

"Uh…" was Sound's only audible response.

The white-haired woman bounded up to us "I'm so glad to see you again!" she said "You're finished with school, yes?"

"I…yes," I said.

Clarity grinned widely "Now we can hang out, right?"

"Uh, Clarity, I have to stop by the hospital and go home afterwards," I said.

"Oh…" the girl's face fell.

It seriously hurt my heart to see it.

"But you can walk with us," I blurted out, defensively putting my hands out before me.

"R-Really?" the stutter in Clarity's voice turned my heart to butter at that point.

"Absolutely," I said with confidence "Sound, this is Clarity. I just met her this morning. Clarity, this is Sound, a classmate of mine."

"Nice to meet you," said Clarity with a smile.

"Same," said Sound with a casual nod.

I internally sighed in relief, thankful to have ceased the melting of my heart.

"_Good lord, when did cute girls suddenly start running my life?_" I thought was we walked.

"So Master, why do you have to go to the hospital?" asked Clarity.

"I have to pick up a medicine," I explained "And please stop calling me master."

"Is this a nickname?" questioned Sound.

"No, we just met _this morning_. There wouldn't be any room for nicknaming," I said "So Clarity, just call me Aoi."

"But you're my master," she argued.

Sound gave me a strange look, or as questionable a look as her often uninterested face could display.

"I'm sorry, Clarity, but I really don't like the name. Can you think of something else?" I asked.

"Hmmmmm…." she mused.

She then gasped slightly in realization "How about Madame?"

"Uhm, pick another…"

"Mistress?"

"Another please…"

"Uhmmmmm, oh! How about Lady-"

"Ohhh, there we spot a lovely lady."

The three of us ceased upon suddenly hearing the smooth male voice.

I was aware that we had entered a throng of people on the street, but it was now I was noticing that the outer portion consisted of displeased looking males. The nucleus of the crowd held multiples of women who seemed to be entranced by a smiling, tall, dark-haired man in a red kimono with a sword slung over his shoulder. Apparently, the man had set his sights on me.

However, it didn't seem like he was announcing it, but rather the volume of the crowd decreased enough for him to be heard.

"Dude, I think he's checking you out," I heard Sound whisper in my ear. I could even hear the smirk that shaped the words.

"Oh…? Master has admirers?" Clarity questioned.

These two couldn't have picked a worse day to walk with me.

"_Please don't mean me….please don't mean me…_" I thought, but then the sword-carrying man began to approach us as he was only about seven steps away.

"Why hello there..."

".._.Shit._"

The tall kimono-wearing man wasn't shy to close the distance between us. I could practically taste the testosterone in the back of my throat with every breath I took near him "I couldn't help but notice that gorgeous pink hair of yours."

"Oh, thank you," I said, trying to keep the atmosphere casual and nonflirtatious, though it was difficult with the glares of scorn from the women behind him.

"You must have a great stylist," he said "The shade and the style and certainly unique."

His game was pretty obvious by now. He acted polite, chivalrous and kept his conversations clean instead of outright flirting. No wonder he got so much popularity. Most women are probably tired of men using vulgar pick-up lines. I'll give it to him, this guy is using his brain.

"The color is natural, actually," I said, shrugging "And I actually do it myself, every morning."

His eyes softened some "Oh, well a pretty lady like you shouldn't have to deal with such a hassle,"-And here comes that chivalry-"I'd be more than happy to make you one of my customers. A nice perm could get rid of the annoying daily routine."

"Ah, no thank you," I said, shaking my head "I'm not too keen on the idea of strange products in my hair. Also, doing my hair everyday isn't so bad."

"Are you sure?" he then took up my hand, something I did not expect "A lady with such beautiful hands shouldn't ruin them with strenuous work."

I could feel the daggers of the women, but they were nothing in comparison to the burning in the shells of my ears from being called "lady" so many times.

I nodded, fighting the urge to make my smile condescending instead of business friendly "Thank you, but I'm fine," I said, slipping my hand away from his.

Suddenly, a woman whispered "Ugh, I can't believe she has the nerve to dismiss Koujaku like this!"

"_Wait_…" I thought.

"_You're_ Koujaku?" I questioned.

He seemed taken aback by this "Uhm, yes. I am."

I laughed a bit "Oh, so you're Aoba's friend," I said, now feeling I had the upper hand "Nice to meet you."

"Wait, Aoba? You know Aoba?" asked Koujaku.

"Yeah."

"Then who are you? Aoba never mentioned any female friends," Koujaku said, seemingly very uncomfortable.

My neck burned when he brought up my gender again. I thought I had dodged that topic, but that doesn't mean I still couldn't try.

"I'm Aoi," I explained "Mizuki's twin."

"Huh?!" Koujaku's confused statement was enough to stun the women and even earn a gasp from Clarity, whom remained quiet along with Sound the entire time as I assumed they both enjoyed watching the scene.

"But Aoba and Mizuki said….they never said you were a girl," said Koujaku "They always referred to you as "he". I mean, sometimes, they'd slip up and say "she"…but most often times, they referred to you as a guy."

The crowd had gone completely silent save for a few whispers. Behind me, I heard Sound make an incomprehensible hum and Clarity utter "Master…?" quietly under her breath. All attention was on me and what the hell I was.

The heat had spread all the way to my shoulders like some kind of mockery cape of pressure. My heart pounded against my ribcage as a felt countless pairs of eyes piercing through me and demanding an answer.

"I'm not a man. I'm not a woman," I said "I'm both…s-sorta. I'm bigender."

"Wh…What…?" Koujaku said, pausing afterwards.

I swallowed as the silence in the crowd actually deepened. I prayed they weren't waiting for an explanation, but I knew it was pointless.

"But...you're clearly a woman."

A choke of embarrassment locked in my throat upon hearing Koujaku say this. I was suspected him to just be confused and ultimately drop the topic altogether, but he was actually bold enough to question it in public.

"I mean, you _are_ a woman," he continued "I can see that."

His voice was comforting and gentle, as though he were trying to help me out of a delusional state, but it did nothing but embarrass me further. I could hear the whispers from the crowd now.

"Bigender?"

"What does that mean?"

"Is that like transgender?"

"She's two genders?"

"Ew! That's gross!"

"How does she have sex?"

Koujaku was only trying to help, but he was too ignorant to know the damage he was doing.

"Hey," I said in a low voice "I gotta get to the hospital and pick up some medicine so I can't stick around. Tell Aoba I said hi."

"Huh?" now Koujaku was clearly put off by my sudden change in tone.

I patted his shoulder "It was good meeting you, man."

I walked over to Sound and Clarity, who both looked back at the scene with wide eyes.

"Come on, guys," I said.

"R-Right."

"Yes, Master."

We walked in silence all the way to the hospital. When we reached the doorway, I said "I'll only be in there for a moment. So you guys can just stand out here."

I began to walk in, but a hand captured by shoulder "Huh?"

"Aoi," Sound said.

I turned to her. She looked me directly in the eyes for the first time we've met, and honestly, it was intense.

"Your gender doesn't affect how I see you," she said.

It took me a moment to register what the words she just said to me meant. When they did, I felt a cooling surge in my chest.

"And I…" Clarity now spoke up "Since you don't like being called Master, may I call you…Sir-Madame?"

Another wave of gratitude filled my chest and added to the weight of the one from Sound's words.

"I…thank you," I struggled through the lump in my throat "Both of you."

"No prob," both women said in their own respective tones and energy.

I walked through the doors of the hospital and weaved my way through the waiting room up to the receptionist desk.

"Excuse me, is-"

I stopped once the black mass of hair lifted up and Sei's face greeted me.

"Hello!" he said.

"Hey, you! I didn't recognize you without the hat," I greeted.

Sei leaned over and fanned herself with the studded fedora "It's too hot over here to keep it on," she said "I have your medicine for you."

I sighed in relief "Thank you so much," I said "You have no idea how grateful I am to know you have these pills ready for me on such short notice."

Checking his drawers, Sei said "Well Aoba gets the same headaches, so I always have them with me. There we go," he pulled out a golden bottle and started to hand it to me, but hesitated "Aoi…have you been crying?"

Completely confused, I said "No, not at all. Why do you ask?"

"Your eyes are red," said Sei "What's wrong?"

I sighed, no longer able to deny the stinging that had been held on the rim of my eyelids ever since that scene "I…I got misgendered today."

Sei gasped, as if it hurt her more than it hurt me "By who?"

I sniffled some in defiance "Aoba's dumb bro friend from the hair salon," I said.

"Koujaku?!" gasped Sei.

"Yeah," I said "I introduced myself and corrected him, but he just insisted I was a woman," I cringed at the thought "In front of an entire crowd of customers."

"Oh no…" Sei moaned, shaking his head "Koujaku…"

"I honestly hope this was just the man's first experience with a genderqueer and he was just ignorant," I muttered.

"He is," said Sei "He still doesn't know I'm androgynous."

"What?" I whipped my head at Sei "But Aoba said they were childhood friends. How did he _not_ meet you?"

"Koujaku _did_ meet me, but I came out when I was 14," explained Sei "At that point, Koujaku had already left Midorijima."

I paused, starting to come to a realization "How old was he when he came back here?"

"18."

"Sei…Sei!"

"What?!"

Placing my hands on my hips, I said "You had an entire 5 years to see him again. Why didn't you?"

The raven-haired individual bit her lip as her dark eyes shifted from me to the desk before her.

"Sei…"

He sighed "I'm afraid. I don't know how he'll react," he said "And just hearing how he reacted to you, I don't even want to consider the idea anymore."

I frowned, feeling a weight of pity on my shoulders.

"Koujaku was your best friend. He can't just push you out of his life. He'll still love you," I said "Me? I was just a random stranger. What happened out there was just an awkward situation stemmed from a misunderstanding."

"How was it a misunderstanding?" questioned Sei.

I hesitated, embarrassed by having to relive that stupid incident.

"Well..he tried to hit on me as a woman," I said.

Sei started giggled.

I stared at him with my jaw dropped.

"Typical Koujaku," she said "He was always the womanizer."

"I'm not a woman!" I whined.

"Even so, those hips of yours will leave any man begging," continued Sei.

With a playful roll of my eyes, I said "Gimme my medicine," and took the bottle she had been waving around for too long "And by the way, no one can rock a dress like you."

Sei smiled sweetly as I walked away.

That was the difference between Sei and I. If a friend compliments my body, I feel flustered and extremely flattered. If you give Sei a compliment, she'll own it. Everyone thinks he's an innocent angel, but he can be a real diva when the time is right.

When I walked outside, I was only greeted with a "Sir-Madame!"

Clarity was the only one outside.

"Hm? Where did Sound go?" I asked.

"Sound? Oh yes. Andre called her and said she had to come home right away," explained Clarity.

"Andre?" I repeated the name "Who is that?"

"Why, her husband, of course," answered Clarity.

"Husband?!" I exclaimed. Then it hit me "You mean boyfriend…"

"Huh? Oh yes. That's what Sound called him, too."

"What?" I feel like we were running in circles with this topic "Whatever. Do you want me to walk you home?"

"No thank you," said Clarity "I'd like to spend more time with you, Sir-Madame."

"Actually, I don't have anything else to do," I said, placing the pill bottle in my satchel now that I realized I still had it in my hands "Hey, maybe you'd like to meet my acquaintance, Kou."

"Sure!"

* * *

Opening the door for Clarity, the bells chimed. In response, Clarity giggled. For some reason, I got a personal enjoyment out of that.

"Oh Aoi, so good to see you," Kou immediately said from her typical spot behind the desk. She appeared to have been reading a magazine before we had arrived.

"Great to see you, too," I replied as she approached us "I was hoping you weren't busy so that I could just introduce you to a friend of mine and maybe keep you company. Clarity, this is Kou. Kou, meet Clarity."

"Nice meeting you, Clarity."

"The same goes to you!"

Kou picked up a Chinese fan from her desk, opened it up and began to fan herself "I'm so glad you thought of coming here, Aoi. Today hasn't been one of the best days."

"Hm? Why is that?" I asked.

"Well for one, I haven't had a single client," she said "Then someone broke my water fountain while I was gone."

"Whoa, what?"

"That's horrible!"

Glancing over Kou's shoulder, I could see what looked like a chipped stone sculpture in the back corner "Is that it?"

She followed my gaze and looked back "Yes," she said. Somehow, by impulse, we all just walked over to it to get a closer look.

Clarity gasped.

"How did this even happen?" I questioned.

Flicking the tiny bang from her face, Kou said "I have no idea. I closed the shop for a moment so I could run back home and get more nail files. And when I came back, Bao-Yu was flying around the room, screaming about bouncing bunnies attacking the salon."

"Bao…Yu?" repeated Clarity.

"My Allmate," explained Kou, closing her fan briefly so she could use it to point to a sleeping red canary on a shelf above our heads.

"Bouncing bunnies attacking the salon?" I repeated the phrase to make sure I heard it right.

"Yeah," said Kou "If they attacked the entire salon, I should be thankful this fountain is the only thing they broke."

Though she used cordial language with us, she was clearly aggravated, and with good reason. The manner in which she fanned herself seemed to match that of her temper.

"You know what makes me feel better when I'm upset?" posed Clarity.

Both Kou and I awaited her answer.

"Food," Clarity said.

"Clarity…" I said, tiredly.

Kou closed her fan and a smirked played on her red lips "Y'know what?" she said "After the day I had, that sounds pretty good to me," she pulled up her coil "I know a wonderful place to get high-quality dumplings."

"Yay!" said Clarity.

While Kou typed in the order, I sent a text to Noiz.

**Me**: Bringing home dumplings tonight.

**Noiz**: Sweet.

* * *

Have you noticed the women aren't _exactly_ like the original drama boys or they even have characteristics _completely opposite_ to those of the drama boys? That title is starting to make a lot more sense, hm? By the way, **_don't_** say Koujaku was being transphobic. He just didn't understand it.

On the brighter side, I thought of some interesting ideas. I think Clarity's voice actor would be best played by Ariana Grande (using her Cat Valentine voice, let's be real) and Sound's voice actor would be best played by Jennette McCurdy. I'll keep a tab on this and tell you when I change my mind and update.


	4. Chapter 4

"Huh?"

I tried pulling my pants over my thighs, but for some reason, they hard difficulty getting over my hips when I was getting dressed. That wasn't the first wardrobe malfunction I had that morning. When I put on my white blouse, there was an odd amount of space between where my waist and the fabric of the shirt touched.

Lifting my shirt in front of the mirror, I thought "_Is this what Mizuki meant when he said I was losing weight?_" My reflection showed my average four-pack had softened some. I'm used to having a rather muscular build from being in a Rib Team as well as adding to my androgynous appearance. So this was pretty odd for me.

"I have to hit the gym soon…" I muttered to myself as I patted my brown skin.

Without looking away from the mirror, I said "Hey Rei, do you think I should call Aoba and see if he wants to come to the gym with me tonight? He's scrawnier than me and he eats more junk food than Noiz."

"He should be delivering a package to Mizuki at Black Needle right about now," replied Rei "It's best not to bother him right now."

"Right, I forgot about that," I said.

Black Needle is this tattoo shop my brother owns. It was initially where he and us Dry Juice members were supposed to get our symbols tattooed, but after the original leader left, Mizuki converted it into a little hangout spot with a bar.

Our tattoo symbol is the water drop, which Mizuki was so determined to make it a teardrop that he put his right below his left eye. That daredevil sometimes can be so hardheaded. I didn't trust the tattoo artist too well at the time, so I let Mizuki tattoo mine on my left shoulder blade.

I glanced over at Rei "Do you think there are any apps for you that could help me find some new clothes on short notice?" I asked.

"Perhaps a tailor is a more suitable option, Aoi," said Rei.

* * *

As I promised Sound yesterday, I took her to The Jakuzure Spot after school to repaint her nails and get to know Kou. On the way to school, I encountered Clarity for a brief moment and told her not to wait up for me in the afternoon because of that. Of course she had no objections. Strangely enough though, she said something about my voice changing from when she first heard it and "came to me". Apparently it was such a drastic change that she felt the need to poke and prod my cheeks just to verify that it was me she was talking to. I shrugged it off as having a dryness in my throat from morning grogginess and stopped by a cafe to get some hot tea.

Sound and I walked into the salon, however, we were not greeted by Kou right away like I suspected. In fact, I didn't see Kou anywhere.

Fearing we had come in when she had actually closed the shop, I called out "Hello?" apprehensively. I wondered if she accidentally left the door open when the salon was closed.

Thankfully, s sigh came from the back of the room as I notice Kou had actually been concealed in the back. She was hunched over busying herself with work and didn't notice us right away either.

"Phew!" she sighed as she wiped her forehead "Sorry guys, I was just cleaning up a little more of the fountain over there. I hardly even heard you come in."

"It's still…?" I left the question hanging as she walked up to us.

Kou rolled her eyes "Yes," she flicked a bit of her hair bang out of her eye as if to signal a subject change "Anyway, who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Sound," I said.

"Nice to meet you," the blonde said.

"Same to you, sweetheart," said Kou "I didn't mean to introduce myself by nagging, but you just have to hear what happened yesterday," she then stopped herself "But we'll discuss it over your nails. Mani or pedi?"

"Manicure," Sound requested, displaying her nails "Do you have this color available?"

Kou took the blonde's hands into her own "Yes we do. Bao-Yu, if you will?"

A red cardinal Allmate that I hadn't even noticed had been perched on one of her broad shoulders nodded "Yes, ma'am!"

As the two women walked over to a nail stand, the cardinal flew away to a rack of nail polishes and sat on a counter beside it to study them. I assumed once she found the color Sound requested, she flew up again to select a silver glitter bottle.

"Aoi, would you like a pedicure?" offered Kou, since we both knew I already came in recently for a manicure.

"No thanks," I said, taking a seat as I watched the cardinal carefully set the nail polish bottle on the stand.

"So, what exactly happened yesterday?" asked Sound as Kou removed the chipped polish from Sound's nails.

"Oh," said Kou, tilting her head in remembrance "You see, I left the shop for a moment to get some supplies from my home."

Judging from the way Sound's hair moved, I could guess she had nodded to show she understood.

"So I closed up the shop before I left, right?" continued Kou.

"Right."

"Well, I wasn't gone for long, but when I came back, my water fountain over there was broken."

I started toying around with Rei's fur at that point, but I could see from the corner of my vision that Sound turned around to look at the shattered fountain in the back of the salon.

"How did that happen?" I heard her ask.

"I don't know," said Kou "When I walked in, the only evidence was my Allmate flying around, screaming about bouncing-"

"Bunnies!"

I lifted my head up at the foreign voice.

All three of us were staring at Kou's red cardinal Allmate as it flew down from the nail stand and around Sound's hip to where the jade green marbles hung "Aha! These are the bouncing bunnies I saw the other day!"

"V?!" frighteningly shuddered one of the many looped around Sound's belt loop.

Sound, twisting around to look at the scene taking place at her hip, questioned "My Getsumento?"

"Bao-Yu, what are you talking about?" questioned Kou, flushing red with embarrassment "Don't harass people."

"Kou, these are the bouncing bunnies that invaded the salon yesterday!" insisted the bird "I can prove it. I found one in the back."

"Bao-Yu…"

The cardinal swiftly darted towards the fountain and returned to us before Kou could make a good argument.

"See?" she dropped a green ball in Kou's lap.

I saw the woman's red lips faintly mouth the word "what?" as she furrowed her eyebrows before she went silent. Her face then went into a hard expression for a moment. Her red pupils then lifted at Sound.

"Hey," Kou said "What is the meaning of this?" she asked as she lifted the single Getsumento.

With Sound's back to me, I couldn't see the expression she's making. All I heard her say was "My missing Getsumento link," as though it were a missing item being returned and she were not being interrogated right now.

Kou frowned mercilessly "What's your Allmate doing in my salon?"

With a matter-of-fact tone, Sound said "I was walking home with my boyfriend one night and, well, things got rowdy and I lost some of my Getsumento in the dark. Some of them probably found their way into your shop."

"Things got rowdy?" questioned Kou, squinting with a frown still embedded in her pretty features.

"Y'know, Rib fights and crap," muttered Sound, seemingly dodging the question.

Kou huffed a little through her nose "Well I'm so glad to hear your boyfriend saved you from the mean old Ribsters," she teased with a malicious glare "But I'm afraid that doesn't do much for me," Her voice and face sobered up as she put Sound's Getsumento on the table like it was trash and held out her now empty hand "I'm afraid you're going to have to pay up for my broken fountain."

I heard a faint noise from Sound, like the beginning of a "What?"

"233,094 yen is the _minimum_ price," said Kou in a rather friendly tone "Since you're just a kid, I won't make you pay for the rest of the damage to my shop that I already cleaned up."

I wasn't sure how to interject, or why I hadn't interjected earlier in the first place. Was it even my place to do so at all? What could I have said to make this better? It's not like I have any place in this. Still, I was in the room. I had to take some form of responsibility for this.

"I can't pay you."

Kou blinked once, the rest of her face unchanging "I'm sorry, what?"

Sound repeated herself "I got into some trouble with my parents and I'm grounded. So I'm not allowed to use my money and I can't pay you."

I couldn't help furrowing my eyebrows. Since when was Sound grounded? Then again, she wasn't talkative and hardly ever told me things about her personal life. There would be no opportunity for her to tell me something like this.

Kou didn't respond for a minute, biting her cherry red lips as she closed her eyes in frustration. It's as if she was about to outright say she didn't believe her, but then she finally said "Find a way."

This time, I actually heard little distaste in Sound's voice as she said "Find a way? What am I supposed to do? Pull a wad of cash outta my-"

Sound was cut off by the chime of the bells at the door.

"Sir-Madame! I've come for you."

I sighed a little too loudly and obviously. Never have I been so glad to see Clarity.

"Eh, I forgot that you said you were going to The Jakuzure Spot after school with Sound," the white-haired woman said as she approached me "I looked around for you for a moment before I remembered."

"Oh, well it's a good thing you remembered quickly, isn't it?" I said, meaning every single word of it.

I heard Kou chuckle and say "You know, since you "don't have access to your money" I guess you can't pay for your manicure either, right?"

"A-Actually, I was gonna pay for it," I said. I had indeed planned ahead of time to pay for Sound's manicure just as a little act of kindness. Now I know Sound actually _really_ needed it.

"That's okay, Aoi," said Sound in some kind of new found confident tone "I think I should be heading home. I am grounded after all."

She paused and Kou's frown could only show Sound had just sneered at her.

"Guys…" but what could I really say? Again, this wasn't my business. If anything, I would probably make this worse with my ignorance of the situation.

Clarity simply uttered a "Huh?" as she watched Sound walk past her and exit the salon.

"Ugh…" I groaned tiredly to myself "What even just happened?"

Kou sighed, then glanced at both Clarity and I "I'm sorry you two had to see that. It's really unprofessional of me as a shop owner," she said "Especially you, Aoi. I don't want you to feel bad for bringing her here. I know you only wanted us all to get along in the end."

"No, no, it's alright," I said.

I felt like neither of them were really in the wrong. Sound's Allmate came in here by pure accident and she honestly couldn't pay for it, but at the same time, Kou had every single right to be upset. However, Kou's fiery spirit made it obvious that it wasn't wise to tell her that.

"Oh! I should probably walk Sound home though," I said, springing up from my chair.

"Hm? Okay then, it _is_ getting dark," said Kou.

"Sir-Madame, may I come with you?" Clarity asked.

Although I had just got finished being grateful for her presence, I now felt like I needed privacy with Sound. She seems like the "Shrinking Violet" type and an added third party she just met yesterday would probably make her even more uncomfortable.

"Sorry, but I think I should do this alone," I told the white-haired woman "You can help Kou clean up, though," I leaned over to glance at the black-haired woman in question "Is that alright with you, Kou? Can she help you clean?"

A grateful smile spread on Kou's lips "That'd be wonderful. Thank you, Aoi."

"You're welcome," I said, turning towards the door "Goodnight, you two."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sir-Madame!"

I walked out of the salon's door, entering the night that had fallen.

"It really did get dark fast," commented Rei.

"No," I said "I just stayed late after school finishing up a project. You were in sleep mode so you didn't know."

Rei took a moment to check her times and said "Oh yes. It's about 8:00."

I looked around the dark, hearing the far-away noises of the city "Where is she…?"

"Aoi!"

Rei's voice brought me to her attention. I glanced down at her, sticking out of my satchel and saw her facing a specific direction down the street. Without having to waste time asking what she saw, I looked down that way too.

Sticking outside of an alleyway outlet was a jade green and black heeled ankle boot.

"Sound…!"

I speed-walked up to her from behind, not wanting to startle her with hasty actions, but also not wanting to dawdle. The closer I got, the more I could see she was leaning her back on the edge of the alley's opening, disregarding her blonde waves getting dirtied by the grimy wall.

"Sound, I…" I started to say when I came around to face her, but I halted my words when I saw her.

She was half-way hunched over, both hands clutching her upper right abdomen below her breast as red seeped through. Her face only twanged slightly in pain as though it were a scratch.

"You're bleeding!" I couldn't help but say.

"I'll be fine," she said.

"Fine? You're sitting in an alley!"

She glared at me and bared her teeth some in annoyance. I didn't care.

"Follow me," I said, looping my arm around hers.

She instantly jerked away like I somehow stung her "I don't need any help. It's nothing."

I turned so I was directly facing her "Sound," I said, the words flowing in a strangely fluent way from my mouth "I won't let you go home without dressing that wound."

She made a vulnerable noise between an internal gasp and a whimper. Her jade green eyes studied me with some skepticism as though I had made a very, very foreign action. I didn't understand why. All I did was speak to her, right?

Sound sighed and muttered "I don't need the help, but since you won't let me go home, I'll take it."

As astounded as I was by this sudden turn-around, I wasn't about to squander it by hesitating in my wonders and questioning her. I ghosted my arm on her back and led her out the alleyway.

* * *

Sound lied on the couch with a towel beneath her, an expression of reluctant calmness plastered on her face as she looked at my hands. I sat in Noiz's favorite beanbag chair with an open first aid kit beside me. Noiz was currently out of the house during one of his ambiguously unexplained errands so I didn't have any explaining to do when I entered the house with Sound at my side.

Hovering my hands over her torso where the red had dripped and spread about her, I said "I-I'm…I'm going to lift your shirt up now," damning my stammer.

She only gave a short hum in confirmation, seeming not to care.

I unbuttoned her white polo first and peeled that back. After that, I pulled up her black fitted long-sleeved shirt, revealing not only tiny slash marks, but broken bandages that had seemed to be put in place to cover them up.

"Huh?"

Sound sighed, but didn't respond.

"Sound…" I asked "How did you get this wound?"

She parted her lips slightly to speak but then hesitated. She then said "Like I said, things got rowdy with those Ribsters the other day and I got a little scratched up. I forgot to change the bandages and they started slipping."

"Oh…" I dabbed some tissue with rubbing alcohol "This may sting a little. I'm sorry."

Again, she only hummed slightly in comprehension.

When I brought the tissue to the open scrapes, she didn't even flinch. The steady rise and fall of her body didn't interrupt in the slightest. On that note, my muscles were allowed to relax slightly when I knew I wasn't hurting her.

To avoid getting her shirt wet, I lifted it up a little more. I heard a very quiet, muffled grunt from Sound that made me glance at her. A faint trace of irritation shadowed under her face and I could see her features struggle not to twist into a frown.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said.

I returned my attention to the scrapes and continued to clean the wounds clean "_Maybe I'm just overreacting_," I thought. I peeled off the old bandages and replaced them with new, more slender ones. They should fit more subtly under Sound's clothes, I figured at the time.

"Hey," addressed Sound.

I didn't look up when I simply asked "Yes?"

"Why are you doing this?"

Confused by the question, I looked at her "Fixing your scrapes? Why wouldn't I?"

"No, not just that," she said "I mean all of this. Why are you being so…nice to me?"

Not sure I even heard her right and utterly dumbfounded by her statement, I found myself just staring at her, not realizing I was expected to give an answer.

"I mean, you just met me and you've let me hang around you and meet your friends," she said, her blonde eyebrows furrowing in confusion "I don't understand your motive behind all of this. Why treat me so special?"

It took me a moment to let her words seep into my mind, but it didn't take me long to answer because I felt it in my heart.

"Isn't it obvious?" I said.

Before I could say any more, I watched her face darken into something sullen. Her jade green eyes had gone downcast. When she blinked, they looked straight into me.

"It is, isn't it?" she said, plain as day suddenly "I guess I should've known…"

"Eh? Sound…?"

She sat up on the couch and leaned into me. I should have been prepared for what came next since she didn't rush or lean in at an abnormally slow pace, but I didn't expect her lips to come in contact with mine in what became a kiss.

A tiny gasp escaped my mouth when our lips parted, though Sound's arms were still around my neck. She didn't look apologetic or rustled in the slightest, but I knew my face was probably as red as velvet.

"Wh-Why…?" was all I could utter.

Sound's lips parted slightly as she stared at my lips "It wasn't good enough?"

Shocked by her reaction, I gasped "Sound…! Why did you kiss me?!"

Suddenly, the sound of the door swinging open resonated through the front room. My nerves froze in place. In front of me, I could see a faint trace of emotion in Sound's eyes that showed that she was slightly startled by the sudden appearance of my housemate.

"Tch," I heard him say "Aoi, don't use my work space as a place for your dates."

Heat rose to my face and neck in embarrassment, also because Noiz sounded uncharacteristically cranky for some odd reason.

"Hm," Sound closed up her shirt and stood up as though nothing had happened "Well, I should get going now. My parents would be worried about me."

"Ah-" Whatever words I could have possibly come up to say at the moment were clogged in my throat as I pivoted my entire being to watch her walk past me and Noiz out of the apartment, Noiz closing the door behind her in a somewhat disgruntled manner.

"Tch," he repeated.

As he started roaming around the front room to find a comfortable spot on the floor to sit, I noticed a sweet smell wafting in the air when he passed me by.

"Donuts…?" I muttered.

"Huh?" he questioned, setting up his coil to start hacking, I supposed.

"Y-you really smell of donuts, Noiz," I said.

"_Like from Aoba's house,_" I thought.

He side-glanced me in an irritated fashion "I'm not in the mood to hear weird crap like that."

"Eh-" I stopped myself from questioning him any further. My body ached. To start any form of debate right now doesn't even sound like a reasonable action.

Instead, I stood up and walked back to my bedroom without a word.

Inside, I closed the door behind me and went to the bed where Rei sat.

I picked her up and carried her to the bathroom "Aoi?"

"Hey," I simply said before walking into the bathroom and locking the door.

I set her on the sink before I turned around to run some bathwater.

"What happened to Sound?" the tabby asked "Is she alright?"

"Yeah," I said. During the time I nursed Sound, I know I put Rei in my bedroom. She didn't see or hear anything that happened.

I began stripping my clothes until I was down to my bra and panties. It wasn't until then that I realized I really wanted to be completely alone and having even Rei, my own Allmate, here wasn't an exception.

I turned off the water once I figured the tub was full enough and faced the pink cat "I'm going to shut you off for now," I told her.

"I figured so," she said.

After I put Rei into sleep mode, I took off the last of my clothing items and slipped into the warm bath water.

"Ah…" I breathed a relaxed sigh as the heat sank into my pores and the steam rose to my exposed skin above the water.

I took the time to simply lounge in the bath without washing or scrubbing myself. I just let the soap and suds soak into my skin as I laid there with my head back staring lazily at the white ceiling.

"_These past four days have been so hectic_," a sudden thought came to me, one that I had been suppressing for a while.

Meeting Clarity, Kou, and Sound and suddenly thrusting their friendship upon me was certainly wild enough. They were definitely women of dynamic worlds, I could say. Clarity was so abnormally naive and childlike for someone of her age. I still should be questioning why she considers me her "master" and how she even met me that day. Kou seemed like a very compassionate and classy woman, but clearly not someone to mess with. Then there's Sound. I thought she was just lacking in social skills, but it seemed to run even deeper than that. What she said to me when I was cleaning up her wounds on the couch was really something. She was seriously questioning why I was being nice to her. It's as if, she didn't believe I actually liked her.

I brought my finger tips to my lips, letting my eyes close.

"_I still don't understand why she suddenly kissed me_…"

I could still feel her warmth on my lips, even though it was only for a few seconds.

"_She has a boyfriend, too,_" I thought "_Is she experimenting? Is that it? She _is_ still a teenager._"

Although the thought hurt my pride a little bit, it was the only thing that seemed to make sense. Sound seemed to have an attitude of aloofness where she didn't want to appear awkward. Perhaps that's why she kissed me at such a random moment.

Solving that issue to the best of my ability, I could relax my mind a little bit, not as much as before, but to a certain degree. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before my conscious settled on another woman I had met recently, or rather, a_ pair of women_.

"_Those two blondes by that Rhyme match_," I thought "_I didn't even get to know their names, but they knew me._"

Strangely enough, why did talking with them give me such a migraine that made me pass out? Could it just have been a coincidence or was one of them secretly using a drug or something?

"_Probably some lame Ribsters,_" I thought with a faint smile, but that soon faded when I remembered something else "_That dream I had when I was passed out. Why did that guy seem so familiar?_"

Even though it was a male version of me I saw in my unconscious state, something else was eerily familiar about him. I felt like he wasn't _just_ me, but someone I actually knew and interacted many times in my life. Even though he was me, I felt like he was separate enough from me to even have his own name.

"_What was it?_" I thought, musing in silence for a moment "_Oh this is stupid! I'm over thinking on a fever dream!_"

I sat up and reached for the soap "_Let me just wash up before I think of another stupid thing to worry over._"

After roughly scrubbing my skin in an unnecessarily aggressive manner for a short while, I sank myself into my bathwater to rinse all the soap off. When I breached the water, I heard the sound of my coil beeping from the edge of the sink. I wondered if it was really worth leaning out of the tub to answer it or catch it later.

"_Here is your monthly horoscope!_"

"Huh?" It's only been two days since I received the last one, clearly not a month. And since when did these apps announce vocally if you miss the notification the first time?

"_Aoi, your fortune reveals- "He's dying."._"

A chill ran up my spine at the ominous message.

"_He's dying._"

It repeated itself. The lone voice in the solitude of my quiet bathroom was disturbing.

"_He's dying. He's dying. Don't let him die._"

I waited a while to confirm that was the end of the audio. It said no more.

"_Why…why would it say that? Did someone rig my fortune?_" I thought "_Who's "he"?_"

A paralyzing fear pierced my very being after that question passed my mind.

"_Don't tell me…those women.._."

The image of the smug blondes appeared in my mind.

I jumped out of the bathtub "Mizuki…!"

* * *

I had been running down the cold, dark streets straight from my apartment without stopping. I could see my breath in front of me turning into fog as the heat in my body rose. Along the way, I had been disregarding suspicious figures and gang sights that one would usually avoid even walking by. After a long, agonizing run, my destination was coming into sight: the Jet Black Gym.

I ran in through the back entrance of the grey, graffitied like always "Mizuki!" I immediately called out, only hearing a few male voices in the background.

I walked around the pretty much barren grey gym, hearing my pants along the way and seeing the occasional guy glance at me in confusion and wonder.

"Mizuki!"

Suddenly, I heard one of the male voices stop his conversation "Oi!"

I gasped sharply and immediately ran towards the voice "Mizuki!"

He came around a corner casually pulling his bangs back from his face "Hey Aoi, what's- gah!"

He choked when I stumbled into him, my arms enclosing around his waist.

"Mizuki, are you hurt? How do you feel? Did you meet any strange people?"

"A-Aoi, calm down!" he said, easing me off of him with his hands on my shoulders "What's the matter? Your face is flushed."

I took a deep breath to steady myself "I got a horoscope today that said "He's dying." I thought it was a threat from a Rib team towards you."

"Horoscope?" questioned Mizuki "You're supposed to get those once every month."

"Exactly why I thought it was a Rib team threat!" I said, getting flustered again.

Mizuki's eyes were skeptical as he looked at me for signs that I was joking.

"Take a look," I urged, putting my coil up to his face.

He held my wrist at an awkward angle and read it, taking his time to make sure it was the real deal. When he let go of my arm, his mouth moved but no words came out. It was as if he was searching for the appropriate words not to provoke me.

"This doesn't make sense at all," he said "Dry Juice hasn't been getting in any trouble at all with anyone. We've been fine."

"What about Rhyme?" I pressed "You said Ribsters were getting too invested in Rhyme."

Mizuki crossed his arms with a dismissive look "Well I can't speak for other Rib teams, but Dry Juice doesn't take Rhyme that seriously, so we don't get in trouble. The only reason I was ever miffed about it was because it made our members lazy. I mean look at how few come to the gym nowadays," He said the last part motioning towards the gym about us with his arms outstretched. "If it _is_ a Rib team scheme, it's just a scare tactic. This is the reaction they want out of you because you're my little sibling."

I knew he was right, but still one thing remained "Mizuki…" I said "Have you met any strange women recently?"

"Huh?"

"Two tall blondes? They dress in pretty similar clothes," I tried to think of a better description, but my memory of them wasn't all that reliable. I had only seen them once, after all.

Mizuki chuckled slightly "Strange women, eh? You think that lowly of your brother?"

"Mizuki…" I growled.

He laughed some more at my reaction, but then stopped and stared at me in silence for a moment.

"What?" I asked.

"Aoi…did Noiz see you like that?" he questioned.

I raised a brow "Like what?"

He blushed "You're not wearing anything…underneath…"

It was true. When I got out of the bathtub to get dressed, I only put on a black jumpsuit and sneakers in my hurry. I didn't have the time to put on a binder, bra, or underwear.

"If you heard your twin was dying, would you care about if your outfit was public decent?" I snarked, zipping up my jacket "And keep your eyes up _here_ anyway."

He sighed tiredly through his nose, his blush remaining "Just don't let Noiz see you like that. That's all I'm saying."

"Got it," I said "Well, I'm going home. Please stay safe for me."

"Same to you," said Mizuki, acknowledging that I was stealing his line.

We turned to our separate ways, me heading back the way I came from.

A broad female form in a concealing gray hoodie and dark gray sweatpants walked ahead of me with a gym bag slung over her shoulder. Along the way, she dropped something.

I picked it up "Miss! You dropped something," I tried to look around the corners where she went but it was too dark in the night to see "Excuse me, miss?"

I looked down in my hand at the objects: a pair of red chopsticks.

* * *

I think I depicted Kound's (horrible ship name is horrible) rivalry pretty well. I can't see it being that barbaric or childish as the canon KouNoi's rivalry, especially since the drama girls aren't supposed to have the exact same personalities.


	5. Chapter 5

**I probably could have said this earlier but in this universe, Ren isn't Aoba's alter ego, He's just an up-to-date Allmate (so nope, Aoba doesn't get to "screw the pooch", which also means Aoi doesn't get to "play with her pussy"). By the way, google "Getsumento" so Sound's Allmate name will make sense.**

* * *

I approached the school with strong legs, determined to get in there and solve this issue.

"Are you sure about this, Aoi?" I heard Rei ask from my satchel.

"Yes," I said, sternly "I'm not letting this ride by without an explanation."

The other night, I had invited Sound over to patch up her wounds. For some reason I couldn't determine, she kissed me afterwards. I had my own speculations for her reasoning, but nothing beat hearing it from her own mouth.

"There she is," I said behind clenched teeth as I spotted her getting a bottle of juice from a vending machine.

I approached her wordlessly as she was bent over to retrieve her drink.

"Hey!" I said.

She turned her head around casually, biting the cap off of the bottle "What's up?" she said.

Shocked by her casual response, I said "You know exactly what's up."

"Hm?" Sound furrowed her pierced blonde brows in confusion as she took a sip from the bottle of juice she had just bitten the cap off of.

"Last night…" I said, my voice coming out more embarrassed than I wanted it to.

Sound then smirked, taking the bottle away from her lips "Oh yeah."

"Don't smile!" I blurted out, heat rushing to my cheeks "You've got a lot of explaining to do!"

"Explaining?" repeated the blonde.

"Yes! I mean, it's not everyday another girl randomly kisses another girl."

Sound cocked a brow at me "You said you were bigender."

Unintentionally pointing towards myself, I said "I was identifying as a girl that day, just like I am now, but that's besides the point."

Sound nodded "I see," she said "Well, I should be asking _you_ why you're surprised I kissed you."

Again, I was dumbfounded by her logic.

"I mean, I know you want me in that way," she said.

A small knot formed in my gut from the context of her words "Sound, when have I ever said that?" I questioned.

She took a casual swig of her juice as I asked that, then she said "When I asked you why you were so nice to me, you said "Isn't it obvious?". I'm not stupid."

My mind worked to put the puzzle pieces together "_So she thought_…"

"You thought I've been...coming on to you?" I asked her.

She gave me a tired look as her eyes lidded over in aggravation "Listen, Aoi, you don't have to pretend to be the good girl, here."

"Huh?"

"I know the position I'm in. Anyone who would want to be around people like me are only looking for two things," she explained "Money and sex."

"Sound…" was all I could muster to breathe at her grim words. I couldn't believe that was what she was thinking all along, that I was only nice to her so I could have her body.

"I don't take offense to it," she said, waving her hand dismissively "Don't feel guilty for doing what anyone else would do."

"But Sound, that's not true!" I could only blurt out that one statement in an immature rush. My mind couldn't construct a mature argument for some reason. Only those five words stood as my defense for Sound and her self-worth.

"Oh just drop the good girl get up, already, Aoi," pressed Sound, rolling her jade green eyes as though this were a simple disagreement we were having "There's no use denying it."

"Do you hear yourself? Do you understand how much you're degrading yourself, as a woman no less?" I interrogated, getting angry now "What do your friends have to say about this?"

Sound's face remained nonchalant and bored throughout my rant.

"Do you let your boyfriend Andre know he's allowed to take advantage of you like that?"

The last thing I saw before a fist collided with my gut was a pair of flames flicker in the irises of Sound's eyes.

I went down to my knees immediately as colors poured into my vision from the pain.

"Aoi!" Rei called from my satchel.

Through the colors, I looked up at Sound glaring down on me with a single hand on her hip "You just lucked yourself out of a sweet deal," she said.

I watched in agony as the blonde walked away.

"Are you okay, Aoi?" asked Rei, walking up to my face.

I sat up "I'm fine," I said "I just didn't expect such a thin girl to pack that much of a punch."

"She's a strange one, indeed," commented Rei.

I stood up with the aching pain in my gut pounding away. I scooped up Rei, turned her off without a word and took the longer route to Algebra that morning.

* * *

"Rei, I have a crazy idea, but I need you to do this for me."

I stood at the concrete steps of my apartment with the pink tabby in my satchel again. School had ended and I had gone home, but now I had decided my day shouldn't end there.

"As your Allmate, I'm obliged to any commands you have within reason," she replied.

I then confidently said "Find Andre's house."

"Aoi…?" posed Rei.

"Please," I said "Do you have enough information?"

"Well, with the Franzen heir being so famously wealthy, it shouldn't be too difficult for me to find information on their associates," said Rei "It might take a moment, but I can do it."

"Alright then," I sat down on the concrete railing as I waiting for the information to process into the pink tabby. I knew by "a while", Rei only meant a few minutes rather than instantly like with other directions. So I busied myself with my coil, emptying my spam messages inbox. At some point, I ran across a message that wasn't spam, though. It was from Mizuki.

Mizuki: _Hey, Aoba's grandmother fell the other day and he's nursing her. He won't be around for a while._

"_Tae-san fell?_" I thought to myself "_How unfortunate; I hope it's not serious. Aoba must be worried sick, especially since he always blames himself for things like that._"

Aoba only lives with his grandmother, Tae-san. Even Sei decided to move out after she graduated from college. Secretly, we'd all like to just deduct that Aoba is a bit of a [grand]mama's boy. Even though he talks a big game, he's still just a kid who can't see himself living without some form of parental figure under his roof.

"Okay, I have the directions," said Rei.

She leaped out of the satchel.

"Great," I said "Let's go."

* * *

When I scooped the pink tabby into my arms, I was left standing right before a grand white penthouse, one that I envied the idea of one, single person having it all to himself.

"Aoi, what do you plan on doing?" Rei asked.

I didn't like lying "I'm paying a friend a visit," but I had to.

My hand brushed across Rei's collar "It's a bit of a private conversation and you already heard a little too much this morning," I said.

"Understood," Rei resigned.

I shut her off and stowed her away in my satchel. I glanced over to the broad, clean driveway.

"_No car_," I thought.

I casually walked up to the home up the walkway as though it were my own, pulling a bobby pin from the breast pocket of my vest. Instinctively, my hands went to work on the locked door as it had countless times on other locked doors in my life. Such survival tactics were in my blood now.

I opened the door and walked in.

The large room I stepped into was the front room, I could tell. It was nothing too grand aside from its vast amount of space. Standing still for a moment to listen for sounds of life, I confirmed my suspicions that no one else was home.

I roamed the house, carefully inspecting every nook and cranny. I didn't know exactly what I was looking for. I figured I'd find out once it came to me.

Andre's house was rather plain, I could say. It was lacking in decorations or accessories, but I suppose the average man wouldn't think to consider aesthetics in his home. The most outstanding things I saw were his flatscreen televisions and video game systems.

However, when I came up to the bedroom, I found something alarming.

In the center of what I could only assume was Andre's unmade bed were a few tiny droplets of dried blood, but that's not what caught my attention the most. Hanging from the lamp shade was a small pair of yellow and green bunny-patterned panties with blood on the crotch. When my shaky hand took hold of it, I knew it couldn't have been period blood. The color wasn't right at all. It was _so_ much more red. The copper in it was strong like a fresh wound. It didn't have the same sour odor menstrual blood did.

"_And why_…" a wave of light-headedness came over me as my trembling hands held the panties higher before my vision "_Why is so much of it smeared in this pattern…?_"

Electricity bit my senses at the sound of the door closing behind me.

"Hm."

I turned around and saw a slightly tanned man with champaign colored hair, staring at me with his smug gray eyes. His intimidatingly slack figure donned a gray and black striped shirt under a black leather jacket and black jeans.

"So, you're the one that's been hanging around my girl," he said.

I knew I had to be careful. He had caught me red-handed, but he chose to be cordial with me instead of being outright violent. I decided to use it to my advantage.

"Is Sound with you?" I asked.

He glared at me "What does it concern you?"

I drew back, unsure of how to answer him now that I had seemingly already messed up.

Andre's gray eyes traveled to my hand "And why are you holding my girlfriend's period panties?"

That was the one statement that made me snap.

"This is not menstrual blood," I said.

Andre furrowed his brows "Pardon?"

I crushed the soiled fabric in my hands "What did you do to Sound…!?" I pressed, my voice cracking.

Suddenly, my head made forceful contact with the wall behind me as fingers dug deeper and deeper into my neck.

"I can't believe that fucking slut brought this bitch here," Andre said, seemingly muttering to himself as if this were a casual annoyance rather than threatening me "Hm, that's too bad. This bitch is pretty cute, too."

Despite my struggling and efforts to land a hit on Andre, I could tell I was the one he was dubbing "this bitch" in his external monologue.

Suddenly, he eased his grip on my throat "Maybe…"

I tried to use this moment of weakness to lunge at him, but a cold metal encasing around my wrist stopped me. Andre backed away and released me, allowing me to come to the horrifying discovery that I had been handcuffed to the bed post.

He laughed triumphantly "That'll teach you to keep your fucking nose out of other people's business."

I used my free hand to try and get the handcuff undone "_There's no way…!_" I thought with my mouth agape in horror "_No way! Where did these handcuffs even come from? Thats impossible!_"

Andre whistled happily as he twirled a key around his finger.

"Let me go!" I exclaimed.

Andre caught the key in mid-air just to taunt me and leaned on the doorframe "Nope," he said "You're staying in here for as long as I feel like it."

"You and Sound live here, moron. What will she think when she finds me here?" I posed.

"As long as Sound's my girl, she lives by my rules. Otherwise, she has to listen to the _authorities_," saying that, Andre gripped his crotch.

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach "So you did…" I could hardly swallow back my scream "You bastard!"

"Bite me," waved off Andre.

Heavy flows of blood coursed throughout my body; I could hear every pulsation like thunder. My emotions were high as my head began pounding.

"Let me _go_…"

"Ain't happening."

"Let me go. I'm going to _save Sound_..."

"In your dreams."

"You're going to let me go and _I'm going to save Sound._"

With every word that slipped past my lips, my head resonated with another pound. For some reason, I pushed through that pain just to argue with Andre even more, who enjoyed my torment, I knew. I don't even know why my lips continued to move. The verbal fight was a fruitless effort anyway.

At some point, I passed out, but didn't lose consciousness right away. I heard Andre's taunts beginning to slur into nonsense before a final thud told me the nightmare was over.

* * *

"Sir...Madame…"

The dull ache in my head greeted me as I opened my eyes to the sight of Clarity leaning over me. We were in my apartment's front room and I was laying flat on the floor.

"Sir-Madame," Clarity's voice came more clearly to me as my consciousness pieced together.

"Clarity…" I breathed as I reached out my finger tips to touch her face and affirm that this was a reality. Her warm, smooth features brought me some life and I was able to wake up at my own pace as though I had only awoken from a normal slumber. But then I remembered "Sound…!" I shot up immediately, sending an agonizing rush of blood to my skull.

"Sir-Madame! P-Please don't move about so much!" stammered Clarity, startled by my sudden movement.

I gripped my head, unable to make a reasonable argument at the moment. All I could say was "Hand me my satchel and a bottle of water…please."

"Yes, right away," she fumbled as she hurried to go get the items for me.

I listened to her bustle around the kitchen, realizing Noiz was absent once again. It was probably for the best, though. I had already shaken him once the same way only four days ago. There was no need to burden him again.

In a minute, the white-haired woman returned with the satchel and bottle of water.

I was just barely able to sigh a weak thank you before I dug past the still sleeping Rei in my satchel to grab my pill bottle and get the proper dosage. I then took a few swigs of the cold water to assure they dissolved quickly into my system.

All the while, Clarity watched me with her white brows knotted in concern and her fists balled up close to her heart.

"Clarity…" I decided to speak "How did you find me?"

"I was just walking along the streets when I heard your voice," she explained "You were using that tone again, the one I heard when I first met you."

I squinted at her, confused. I remember she had mentioned my voice sounded different from the first time she met me, but I don't recall changing my voice on any occasion at all for any reason.

"You said something different this time…"Restoration and Life", it was," she continued.

Something about those two words were deathly familiar. The image of the male version of me flashed in my mind for a moment, but I suppressed it.

"And then what?" I asked.

"I snuck into this big house and I found you standing over this man," she continued "You were rubbing your hand and you were thanking him for letting you go. You seemed pretty happy about it."

"_So-Someone let me go?_" I thought "_I don't remember that at all_."

"What did he look like?" I asked.

"He was a blonde man dressed in a lot of black with gray eyes," she then started giggling.

Curious as to what could have changed the mood, I asked "What is it?"

"He was so cute after he let you go!" Clarity mused.

"C-Cute…?" I questioned.

Still with a bubbly smile, Clarity nodded "He was on the floor curled up in a little ball like a baby. I wish you could have seen it, but you left before he did that."

A little shaken by her description of the once intimidating man, I asked "I-Is that so?"

"Mm-hm, yeah!"

A nervous hand ran through my hair bang "_No…this isn't right. Only he's supposed to have these powers_…" I put my hand before my field of vision. It was shaking horribly. I stood up from the floor "Clarity, I'm gonna go run an errand. If you want to stay here and watch the house, that's fine."

"Okay!" said the white-haired woman.

* * *

After some heavy, relentless knocking on the door, Mizuki finally opened up with an "Alright, alright, Aoi please."

I couldn't control my nerves, though "We need to talk," I said.

Surprised by my suddenly serious mood, Mizuki raised his eyebrows and stepped aside to let me in.

"What's wrong?" he asked, closing the door behind me.

I refused to advance towards the kitchen or the front room to take a seat. My anxious muscles wouldn't allow that.

"Mizuki, remember when we were 14 and we found out that you had…powers?" I asked apprehensively, knowing the memories were horrid and unspeakable.

I didn't turn to look at him, but I heard him say "Yes, why?"

"I got into an incident today. I was attacked," I heard Mizuki make a choked sound "The last thing I remember before passing out was demanding the man who attacked me to let me go. When I woke up, he was in a fetal position."

Mizuki didn't speak, so I kept going.

"A friend of mine said that I didn't actually pass out at all, but I had actually commanded the man to let me go, somehow," I said "I don't even remember doing it. It's like I was blacked out and wasn't in control of my body."

Finally, Mizuki spoke "Aoi, remember when we were little kids and we would speak to each other in our heads?" he asked.

"Yes," When we were young, Mizuki and I thought all twins could speak telepathically. Only when we got older did we realize that was not the case and we were special.

"Sometimes when you spoke to me…it wasn't you," he said.

I turned on my heel to stare at him, frightened by what I just heard.

"It was like a different version of you," Mizuki explained, his eyes telling me this was something he had been wanting to get off of his chest for the longest time "He was a boy, no doubt, and he aged along with you through the years. He yearned so much for attention."

"Mizuki…" I stumbled up to my brother, my knees suddenly feeling weak "Mizuki, stop joking with me because this isn't funny. I never poked fun at your powers so you can't-"

"It's the truth!" he urged, gripping my hands which had landed on his shoulders for balance. His sea foam green eyes were wavering, telling me bringing back these memories was hurting him terribly "He cared so much about you and I. All he wanted to do was protect us and save people from their troubles," he said "I don't understand what he came from or how it was possible for him to even exist…but he's a part of you."

"That's impossible…That's impossible…" I slid to my knees, my legs finally giving out "I can't possibly have another person inside of me…" I clutched my chest. My whole body now felt violated and desecrated. The thought of it all sent terrible trembles down my entire being.

"Aoi," Mizuki said, his voice suddenly stern with authority "As your twin, you should have expected to develop powers like me. What happened to that man that attacked you is proof. Our mental conversations as children are proof. You have to accept it."

My head shot up to look at my brother "The man," I said in realization "What do you think I…"

A shadowed look crossed Mizuki's features.

I stood up "No, b-but you said my powers are benevolent…!"

"W-Well…you said the man was just in a fetal position, but not dead, right?" questioned Mizuki.

I nodded apprehensively "Right…he's not dead."

"Then your powers hold true," said Mizuki "They didn't destroy."

I sighed in relief.

There was a heavy pause of silence between us in which we absorbed what had just happened. Clearly, my powers were not similar to Mizuki's in the slightest, but that didn't mean they couldn't be any less dangerous. I didn't want the past to repeat itself.

"You shouldn't worry," said Mizuki "Just keep your emotions from getting the best of you and nothing should change."

I nodded but I didn't feel assured, not in the slightest. Mizuki and I have had to deal with his powers for the entirety of our lives, that being the smallest of the trials we've faced. Still, I didn't like this idea of another person inhabiting my body. Having seen that man's face and hearing him speak within my mind only added to the surrealism.

"Aoi? Are you okay?" Mizuki eased towards me "You look sick. Do you, do you need some water?"

"No I…" I swallowed the nausea built up in my throat "Would it be alright if I took a nap here?"

"Of course," he said, supporting me by my arms as he guided me towards his bedroom. I felt like I was floating all the way there. I just wanted to sleep and wake up under the false suspicion that this entire day was nothing but a chaotic dream.

* * *

It was late in the evening when I woke up again. I knew Mizuki had left the house to work his shift over at Black Needle right now. After I woke up, I planned to go return the red chopsticks to that woman who dropped them at Jet Black Gym.

I changed out of my sweaty daytime clothes and slipped on a pair of Mizuki's skinny jeans and hoodie, only to come across the same problem as I did yesterday. My thighs and backside had grown too wide to accommodate the male's clothing. So instead I grabbed I pair of his looser sweatpants, which were still snug on my asset.

I knew after what had just happened, it would seem irrational to the average person to go about their day as though nothing had happened, but my life has been turbulent from day one. Not very much frightens me as it should. Whenever a challenge approaches, I take it in stride and handle it with the skills I've learned.

I casually strolled down the dark streets of the Old Resident District with Mizuki's hood pulled over my head, abandoning the lively bright lights for the lonesome and dim buildings where humble beginnings started. Jet Black Gym was in my vision.

I stepped in through the side entrance like always, hearing the same noises of chattering men and abused gym equipment.

The heat of the testosterone actually urged me to toss my hood off of my head. Upon doing so, I heard familiar hoots and hollers. Not appreciating the cat call, I turned in the direction of the voices with a distasteful click of my tongue, but the trio of men weren't paying any attention to me.

"Check her out."

"What a woman!"

"Damn…"

Turning to their point of vision, I could see they were actually eyeing a figure at the punching bag. It was a woman slightly taller than me whose curves were perfectly woven into her muscles. Her black hair, moist with sweat, touched the bottom of the scarlet red sports bra that supported her ample bust. Her loose black shorts reached her knees, the waistband hanging dangerously close to her hipbone.

She was, indeed, a sight to behold, especially in her strength as she beat the punching bag that often vexed me. However, one sight caught my attention the most: her tattoo. Around her entire back and the right side of her body was an intricate tattoo that seemed to illustrate leaves and rose flowers.

The woman took a breath, resting for a moment, and then turned around. Suddenly, her red eyes stopped on me.

"Aoi…"

The moment that voice reached my ears, I knew "Kou?"

Without her makeup and having her hair undone, it certainly was a different look, but that didn't mean I couldn't recognize her face and body now that she was facing me.

She blushed horribly "Wh-Wha-What are you doing here?" she stuttered.

"I usually come to this gym to work out. My brother is friends with the owner," I didn't want to outright say this gym was actually Dry Juice property "Also, someone dropped these red chopsticks last night," I pulled them out of my pocket and presented them.

Kou just looked even more embarrassed "Ah…those are actually mine…"

"Oh," I handed them to her. She took off her boxing gloves and accepted them.

"Thank you…" she said.

There was an awkward pause of silence between us. I wasn't sure what to make of it or what to think during that time.

"Aoi, I don't mean to sound brash or anything, but…" Kou hesitated "Would you mind keeping this a secret?"

"What?" I questioned, not understanding what she meant.

She avoided eye contact with me "I'm not very comfortable with people knowing I come here…" she then became flustered as if she realized she said something wrong "Not that I have anything against this place or anything! I mean-" she then calmed herself "I just don't want it to be publicly known that boxing is my hobby."

"I won't tell anyone. It will be a secret between us," I said first "But if you don't mind me asking, why don't you want anyone to know?"

Kou bit her lip with a conflicted expression. Her red eyes roamed about the floor as if she could find an answer there.

"I just…" she sighed "Y'know, I'm already a pretty feminine woman and being a manicurist and all…it's complicated."

I wasn't sure what to say, if anything. It was strange to see Kou, clearly a passionate woman reduced to such an awkward and conflicted state just by bringing up this topic. Maybe I should have just left. Perhaps leaving Mizuki's house and coming to Jet Black Gym was a mistake in general if this was going to happen.

"Uh…?" a questioning sound escaped my throat as Kou unexpectedly lifted my chin up slightly.

"Aoi, what happened to you?" she asked in a concerned tone.

I figured she had to be referring to a bruise that may have formed around my neck from when Andre choked me. With my collar open in Mizuki's hoodie, it was freshly exposed now.

"I got into a little scuffle with Sound's boyfriend," I said.

"What?!" Kou gasped, recoiling her hand "What did Sound do?!"

Not sure how to suddenly put the ghastly story into casual words, I said "Sound is a strange girl, I know. And I think it's because her boyfriend is dangerous. So I went over to check it out and, well, things got a little violent."

Scowling off to the side, Kou huffed "That girl is just a whirlwind of trouble, dating bad boys and then pulling others into the drama."

I was disappointed that Kou had misinterpreted the story, but of course that was only because she wasn't there. That was also because her first encounter with Sound was a bad one.

"Kou, hang on. Don't jump to conclusions."

She then turned to face me directly "Aoi, you're a kind person, but please don't be naive. People like Sound with only bring more harm to you."

I sighed through my nose. There was no changing her state of mind. Unless she was actually involved in the situation, she had no grounds to agree with me and side with Sound.

"Alright, I'll be careful…" I said "Anyway, I should get home," I started to turn away.

"Uhm…wait," I heard Kou say "Thanks for finding my chopsticks. Would you…like me to walk you home?"

Without Rei at my side, I had been feeling a cold emptiness of vulnerability. Having Kou walk me home would accommodate that.

"Oh, sure," I said, grateful "You really don't mind? It's a bit of a walk."

"It's no problem at all," said Kou with a smile.

The black-haired woman grabbed her gym bag from the floor and we exited the gym together.


	6. Chapter 6

Now is a great time to mention that in this DRAMAtical Murder universe, Morphine doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean Trip and Virus aren't in here.

* * *

"Thanks for walking me home, Kou," I said as we approached my apartment door. Yes, Kou took the liberty in taking me not only to my apartment building, but all the way to my floor and to my door, still in her gym wear. However, she did put on her gray jacket over her red sports bra.

"It's no problem at all, Aoi," she said bashfully "The pleasure is all mine. So, you promise me to stay safe from now on?"

"Yeah," I chuckled.

Kou smiled endearingly at me "You have a good heart, Aoi. Take care of it."

"I will," I said as I turned to open the door.

Kou then turned to walk away and that was our goodbye.

Walking into the apartment, I was welcomed with a sweet melody. The melody held no words as the female voice only molded harmonious sounds of ahh's and ohh's. It was almost as if someone were holding out a long note but morphing it into different octaves and styles. It was beautiful.

"Hm? Oh, Sir-Madame!"

The singing stopped and I remembered Clarity had been left in the apartment.

"Oh, Clarity," I said, noticing her sitting on the window sill facing out towards the night sky "Sorry I was gone for so long. I hope you didn't get bored, did you?"

"No, I had fun practicing my singing," she said, shifting her weight from side to side.

"S-Singing?" I questioned, approaching her "That was you just now? The singing I heard?"

"Oh yes!" she said "I call that the Starfish Song."

I sat beside her on the window sill, facing inwards towards the center of the room "It was…amazing," I said, a little embarrassed to be outright gushing over her singing that I had intruded on "Why is it called the Starfish Song if it has no lyrics, though?"

Clarity stared back out to the night sky through the window again with an enchanted smile on her face "Well, I've always liked starfish, you see," she reached her hand out towards the window, tracing constellations "Everyone wants to reach for the stars, but they're unattainable, of course. Starfish, however, are the closest things we can get because we can hold and feel them with our hands. They're the stars of the oceans," she then closed her hand and held it to her chest "I created that song when I wanted to escape into the stars one night, so I named it the Starfish Song."

I looked away from her and let my head fall back against the window "That's beautiful," I said, but then something darker hit me "Clarity, why did you want to "escape into the stars"?" I asked.

Clarity suddenly flinched beside me "Uhm, uhm, I-I really must be leaving now Sir-Madame! I apologize!"

When I looked towards her, she was suddenly leaving from her seat on the window sill and exiting my apartment before I could think of a way to question her actions.

She was gone before I could even open my mouth or move from my own seat.

"What was that about?" I asked aloud to the empty air of the apartment.

* * *

Walking down the street, I moaned slightly in pain as I clutched the clothing over my chest area.

"Aoi? Are you alright?" questioned Rei from within my satchel.

"I'm fine," I said "It's just...my chest. It's sore for some reason. I had a difficult time getting my binder on this morning."

"Perhaps your breasts are swollen from premenstrual symptoms," Rei claimed, plain as day "That's very common."

She couldn't see the disgusted face I had made, thankfully "Maybe I'm just gaining weight," I muttered.

"_Which means Mizuki was lying when he said I lost weight,_" I thought "_Damn Noiz and his pizza rolls._"

"Excuse me, sir?"

I look down the alley towards the direction of the voice. A young man who looked just a little older than me stood there.

I walked up to him "Yes?"

"I'm sorry, but I dropped my coil down behind this trashcan," he pointed towards a large, dark green cube-shaped trash can "Could you help me reach it?"

Although I hated the idea of getting dust and dirt on me, I knew there wasn't a way to just back out now.

"Sure," I said.

I walked up to the trashcan and crouched down, avoiding letting my clothes touch either the ground, the brick wall or the trashcan. I reached my hand far back behind the smooth metal exterior of the trashcan clawing for the coil, but didn't find it. I never found it.

Suddenly, a hand clasped around my mouth.

At first, it was only one person that grabbed me from behind, but soon after, several pairs of hands were on me.

I struggled to fend them off and land a hit on any body in my way, but they were all too strong. As soon as I began to scream for help in hopes that a passerby could hear me, a blunt object was met with my head and I was met with utter darkness.

* * *

My head ached and that was the first thing I addressed when I began to wake up. The second thing was the dirty cold concrete scraping against my cheek and soon the fact that my wrists and ankles were crudely bound also followed.

The room I was in was disgustingly messy and had things just haphazardly thrown around such as a barstool and a gasoline tank. I could hardly call it a room. It was more like a waste basket. I could no longer analyze and criticize my surroundings when I heard a steady exhale.

I glanced up and saw a tall woman sitting on a couch across the room. Her thick legs adorned knee-high black lace boots and black denim jeans and a pink chain on the belt loop. Her incredible bust was held in a black tube top with a bright pink bra shamelessly poking out. Her open gray long tailed vest showed off her brown skin, almost as brown as mine. Her pink, plump lips accented the thin pink headband she wore under her auburn colored micro braids. Her honey-colored eyes stared at me condescendingly as she brought her pipe closer to her mouth for another intake of smoke with her hand adorning black fingerless gloves.

Did she know I had waken up?

Suddenly, she stood up from the couch, which made me realize just how tall she really was.

"Ah, so you're finally awake," she said in a pretty ebonic tone.

I didn't have the stomach to reply.

Suddenly, she grabbed me by my hair fringe and an excruciating pain coursed through my strands into my entire being. I gritted my teeth and groaned, but the woman's face remained unchanged as she studied me. She appeared to be looking into my eyes.

"Just as he said," she said "There's two spirits competing for space in your body."

She then flung me like I was trash and relief washed over me from having my hair released.

"But I only need one," she then motioned towards two young men in the corner of the room whom I didn't noticed were casually conversing until now "Hey, you two."

They immediately straightened out.

"Go on ahead," were her final words before she began to take a seat back at the couch.

The two young men approached me. I had no idea what they intended on doing. I expected to be beaten for information on Dry Juice or something. In that time, I struggled to get out of my restraints, but it was no good. They were tightly bound pieces of cloth and pulling against them only created a burn on my skin.

While I was busy with my restraints, someone began to peel off my vest, carefully groping my arms along the way.

"_No…you're freaking kidding me._"

The other man pinned me down on my back despite the fact that I already couldn't move.

My heart raced and air became hard to take in as my body tightened up "_Jesus…no….!_"

The men's faces were filled with hunger and desire. I was even disgusted as one of them licked his lips way too close to my face.

"Damn, this here's a real pretty boy, isn't he?"

"Hella cute," one of the men strokes my face, sending goosebumps across my skin "Imagine the noises we'll get out of him."

From the corner of my vision, I can see the woman is just casually sitting on the couch, adverting her attention to a pink parrot that I can only assume is her Allmate.

"Heh, don't give Minx such a nasty look there, champ," cooed one of the men "We're the ones doing this for her."

"_Minx? Is that the woman's name?_" I thought for a split second.

"Well tell that bitch Minx to call you pigs off of me and I'll do whatever she wants!" I scolded in a heat of rage.

Minx's honey colored eyes shifted towards me in a warning gaze.

"Ooh, sassy boy aren't you?" cooed one of the men "That just makes it all the more hot…" his aggressive hand gripped the collar of my polo and popped open all my shirt buttons.

Both men ceased for a moment as they stared at my body.

"What the hell?"

"It's a fucking tranny!"

Their surprise gave me the opportunity to knee one of them in the jaw.

"Gah!" he swiped a bandana he had wrapped around his neck and shoved it down my gullet. Although it was dry, it tasted of rancid sweat. Now any chance I had of screaming for help was ruined. Even though I knew they were already slim considering I was clearly far away from other civilization.

The other man stared at me with a crooked smile "H-Hey, this may be better than we bargained for."

I didn't understand what he meant directly, but soon he brought a knife to my binder and ripped it open, freeing my breasts.

I recoiled and whined from his cold, clammy touch as he began to grope my breast. His hands felt dirty and gross.

"Hey, check the bottom to see if that's female too," he said.

The other man slid down my jeans, revealing my short briefs. I was ashamed when I saw that he didn't even have to pull them down to confirm it was genuine. He simply smiled down at my clothed crotch endearingly like he had just hit the jackpot.

"Aw yeah…" he pulled down my briefs with assurance. Then he held down my left thigh as his other hand worked to undo the restraints around my ankles "Hold this," he said as if my other leg was simply a prop as he ordered the other man to pull my leg back, exposing my womanhood to all.

"Y'know, she's pretty buff and has short hair like a guy," said the man playing with my breast "With a little imagination, she can still make out as a cute guy."

"Yeah…" I shivered as I felt the back of the man's hand caress my crotch "She even has a bush like a guy, too. Looks like the carpet matches the drapes," large hands run all over my thighs and legs. It's not long before a finger begins to poke at my entrance.

A muffled squeal escapes me, but only hits the bulk of the bandana in my mouth. At this point, I'm reduced to nothing but quaking in fear of the inevitable.

"Hey, the fact that she's a girl ain't that bad," said the guy "I can take the front and you can take the back."

"Ugh, but just hearing that girly voice makes me go limp," said the other.

"Heh, I don't know about you, but I can imagine," said the other as his agonizingly dry finger probed deeper into me "And I'm pretty hard thinking about it."

A sudden throb in my head pounded. My vision began to waver and pulsate. The throbs increased in both intensity and speed. Why did I have to experience this pain now during this exact situation? However, the pain started to numb me. I no longer felt I was completely there. It felt like I was being pulled into a better place, but then something happened.

"Stop."

Suddenly, Minx's voice boomed and the man closest to me released my breasts. However, the other proceeded to wriggle his thick finger within my flesh.

Heavy footsteps came our way and soon the man was flung off of me. On the floor, his face was in a puddle of blood with a mess of broken flesh from his cheek and lip.

Minx then looked at the other man who was kneeling beside me "Move," she simply said.

The man shakily stepped away from me and stumbled all the way to another end of the room.

Minx set her eyes on me and pulled me up by the arm without any hesitation. I was just thankful she didn't pull me by the hair this time. Still only halfway dressed, Minx wordlessly lead me down an empty hallway. She didn't give me the time to adjust my clothes, but she kept at pace with me and my clumsy limping. I couldn't help but notice the strong, almost obnoxious scent of vanilla as she clung me onto her body for support along the way. It was most likely perfume, but the way it was laced in her skin gave it the illusion that it was her natural body odor. She then pulled me into a smaller, more neat looking bedroom.

Instinctively I sat myself on the bed, shivering and exhausted. My pants were still around my ankles and my briefs were still around my thighs. My open shirt exposed my broken binder and breasts. However, Minx seemed completely indifferent to it all.

She didn't sit down. Instead, she stood before me.

"You were about to use your voice, weren't you?" she asked.

I was taken aback "My voice?" something about that question seemed familiar "What about my voice?"

She furrowed her dark eyebrows in irritation "Don't play dumbass; you know exactly what I mean," she said "You were about to use your voice's powers to stop those men. I know you were."

"_My voice's powers?_" I thought "_I have powers, but what does that have to do with my voice? What does this complete stranger have in her mind?_"

"Remember a man by the name of Andre Eriksson?" asked Minx.

My heart dropped straight into the pit of my stomach and I released a choked gasp.

"His mind was purified into the state of an innocent child," Minx explained "And your voice's powers were the cause."

I glared at her "Who told you?!" I interrogated.

"My men and I know many things, but that's not the concern," said Minx "My objective is you, your powers, and what they can do for me."

Anger immediately boiled in my veins "You…you must be kidding me," I growled "After I let you fulfill your perverted fantasies watching me back there, you honestly want to make a profit off of my powers like some lottery ticket?!"

Minx fixed me with an irritated glare laced in offense "I didn't _want_ to do that for my own reasons. I had to put you into that situation to prove that your powers were real," she said "And besides, if you accept the choice to help me, I'll assist you in your stupid goal."

My goal? "What?" I questioned.

"Saving blondie," clarified Minx.

My eyes widened as I remembered that circumstance "Would you really help me save Sound?" I asked apprehensively as if the offer would just fly away like fleeting sheet of paper in the breeze.

"Only if you follow my exact orders for the use of your powers," she said.

I hated the fact that the moment I discovered my powers, which I didn't even want, this woman seriously wanted to make quick and easy money off of them. She probably didn't even have a full understanding of how they worked. Hell, even I didn't have a full understanding.

"I don't..."

Minx shoved me, hard. Somehow, I manage to catch myself on my elbows.

"I thought you cared about that girl. I'm offering up the chance to save her and you're hesitating?" Minx said "Don't be an indecisive bitch when the answer is right in front of you."

She reached into her her tube top and pulled out a pill bottle that I recognized as mine. Without waiting for me to respond, she tossed it towards me.

"Your bag's under the bed," she said "Take your meds. We're getting out of here."

I reached down below the bed to realize this was true. My satchel with Rei inside and my coil were fine. I grabbed the bottle of water and took my medication for the lingering headache I had.

"_How did she know I had a headache?_" I thought as I swallowed.

* * *

When Minx and I left the building, I realized I had been taken all the way to the North District, probably by truck. However, Minx decided to walk on foot and took back alleys. Of course she didn't want to be seen. I wouldn't suspect a person like her to be the average woman you'd see casually strolling down the streets.

I wasn't sure how long I was knocked out or how long I was in that building, but there was no doubt in my mind that school was over by now, meaning pretty much no one had noticed my absence.

We didn't talk throughout the entire trek. I wasn't sure why she intended on abandoning her gang to walk me home personally. Nonetheless, I followed her back all the way without complaint. I was thankful for that one kind gesture.

Just as we were about to pass my home, I noticed Clarity also approaching from the other direction. We made eye contact with one another.

"Sir-Madame!" she greeted.

She ran up to me with open arms and embraced me in a hug. Just her embrace comforted me and brought me back to reality, even though Minx was still standing there.

"I was getting quite lonely without you or Sound to keep me company," said Clarity.

"Sorry I wasn't at sc- wait, Sound?" I interjected my own statement when I noticed that one detail "What do you mean? You didn't see Sound after school?" I questioned.

"No, she never went to school," said Clarity "I assume you didn't either, Sir-Madame?"

"N-No…" my focus was on Sound. I know what I did to Andre, but could he have recovered? Was he up and able to hurt her all over again now?

"We're going to her house," I declared, stealing myself before Minx, who had positioned herself off to the side so that Clarity and I could reunite.

"Fine," said Minx.

We began to walk away, but then Clarity asked "Ah-h, Sir-Madame, may I come with you?"

I frowned "I'm sorry, Clarity. Not this time."

The white-haired woman nodded with a disappointed expression "Okay."

Minx and I continued to walk, again without words exchanged.

* * *

With me leading the way, we walked all the way up to Andre's house.

"There's no car in the driveway," said Minx, finally speaking up for the first time "How are you sure blondie or anyone is even here?"

I glanced at the empty white concrete to realize this was true. It was completely void of a car yet again.

"But how did Andre get in here yesterday?" I questioned aloud. If Andre really was still in his infant-like state, he wouldn't have driven or left the house today. Therefore, his car should've still been there.

I then mentally slapped myself in the forehead "He must have put his car in the garage. Tch, and I was a fool for assuming the house was empty yesterday."

I then trekked up the walkway towards the front door, feeling Minx follow close behind me.

I rang the doorbell and waited, listening intently for any signs of life within the house.

After a few minutes of no response, I rang the doorbell again just as the door immediately opened.

Sound stood there, her eyes widening once she realized it was me who stood on the doormat.

"Sound! You're alright," I began to say "Did An-" A heavy breath of air shoot out of my lungs when Sound's fist collided with my stomach.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here," she muttered "As if you haven't already done enough to Andre."

I leaned on the doorframe for balance and clutched my gut "Andre is…dangerous and you know it," I groaned.

"You're not my mom, Aoi. I can make my own decisions," said Sound with a slight frown on her face "You've really fucked him up and the only thing I expect you to do while you're here is pay for his hospital bills."

"Doctors won't be able to fix him," said Minx "Only time will heal."

Both Sound and I looked at her.

"I-Is that so?" I questioned, not sure if I should have been relieved of that answer or not.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Hm," humphed Sound, still with dissatisfaction laced in her features "That being said, there's no reason at all for you to be here…" she began to close the door on me, but I stopped her, putting a firm hand on the golden doorknob.

"Wait," I said.

She opened the door back to its original position with an aggravated glare.

"Are you going to school tomorrow?" I asked.

She sighed through her nose "No. I'm staying home to take care of Andre until he gets better."

Anger ignited in my nerves before I could stop it "He abused you! Why should you give him anything?!"

Sound gritted her teeth "You can't say anything about our relationship. You don't understand," she said in a defensive tone.

Running out of patience, I growled "Can you even say you love him?"

Sound's eyes began to flicker violently with emotion "Get away from our house, _right now_," she said in a warning voice.

Minx suddenly brought a pink-nailed hand to my shoulder and pushed me aside. She now stood up to Sound, whose jade green eyes just barely met Minx's collar bone.

"Listen blondie, I made a promise with your friend and I need to make sure I keep up my end of it, which is to keep you safe from this boy," she explained "Disregarding what your stubborn ass says, how about I move in with you to make things easier for all of us?"

Sound hesitated, apparently moved slightly by Minx's natural authority.

"Either that, or you move in with your parents," she said.

Sound timidly said "M-My parents wouldn't let me move back in with them."

I was stunned by this remark. When did this happen? What could have happened recently between her and her parents that banned her from her own home? It seemed a lot of drama happens between Sound and her parents that I'm not aware of. Perhaps she really is a troubled child like Kou claims.

"Then you can move in with me," corrected Minx "If you wanna visit your babe, though, he'd better be on a leash."

Sound contemplated her choices for a moment.

"Well?" questioned Minx.

Sound crossed her thin arms "You can move in with me," she said.

I wasn't sure how to feel about this exact exchange that was taking place before me. Was it really okay to allow Minx to move in with Sound? She seemed shady and unsafe due to the power of her gang, but seeing her alone like this, she seemed much more civilized and nice. Also, she was willing to extend her help this far, even if it was only for her own personal gain in the end. Perhaps she's only doing wrong for a higher power, but not for her own will.

Despite all the queries I had floating in my mind, all I could so at the moment was pat Minx's back and hush "Thank you."

"Whatever," she said "Remember our deal."

"Right," I said.

* * *

I don't know if I described this accurately enough, but the drama girls are supposed to have different body types. Sound is skinny. Clarity is average. Kou is muscular. Minx is thick (like Nicki Minaj thick). Then Aoi, as you can see, is going from an androgynous build to more feminine build. Why? [Kevin Hart voice] You gon' learn today.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the hiatus, as I said in "Don't You Heichou Me", 11th grade requires a lot of attention. I also had a bit of trouble mapping out the next chapters since at this point in the canon DRAMAtical Murder game and anime, the drama boys come together to save Tae-san from Mizuki. But this story won't focus on gangs. It will focus on bigger things (That's the only spoiler you're getting!).

* * *

It's been a strangely blissful three days since the incidents that occurred.

Sound still goes to school everyday but, unfortunately, refuses to speak to me. The only way I can get any status report is through Minx, who says Andre is still bed-ridden and basically infantile. I'm surprised she's been willing to put up with taking care of a grown man who's literally been reduced to a useless mute.

Clarity still makes her occasional visits to see me. She even came to show me a little change in her wardrobe. She replaced her heavy lime green scarf with a slim neck scarf similar to that of what a stewardess would wear. It was beautiful how it showed off her collar bone and her smooth pale skin. I could never notice that before with her heavy scarf.

I try my best to check up on Kou as much as possible when she doesn't seem too busy. I'm glad so see she's gaining customers other than just me. We haven't talked about her being at Jet Black Gym. She still seems rather insecure about that.

I've been so engrossed in the lives of the women in my life that I have completely neglected the men included in it.

One day, I was walking into Black Needle to have a well deserved after school drink. Inside, I was surprised to see Mizuki and Koujaku casually sitting and talking in a booth, both their heads turning towards me the moment I entered the shop.

"Oh, Aoi!" Mizuki greeted as usual while his black-haired friend's face grew even more red than the kimono he wore.

"H-Hey," I said with an undetermined level of confidence "Mind if I get myself a drink?" I asked, already making my way towards the bar.

"Not at all," said Mizuki, waving his hand "Koujaku, you remember Aoi, right? My twin?"

As I selected a glass, I stole a glance at the kimono clad man blushing a deeper shade of rouge.

"Uhm, well, I-"

"We've met once," I interrupted just to save the man from his tumbling humiliation "For a short while."

"Oh, really? That's great," said Mizuki "Well, Aoi, I was just telling Koujaku about a man who came in yesterday to give me a new tattoo design to use."

I began to fill the glass with ice "That's nice. Did you know him?" I asked.

"No," said Mizuki "He was just a passing drifter who had heard my name around the district." I could hear the pride in his voice.

"You're pretty lucky for your talents to gain that much fame, Mizuki," said Koujaku.

I engrossed myself in the tempting sounds of the wine pouring into the glass. I could feel my mouth watering for the tastes.

"_Geez, how long has it been since I had a drink?_" I thought to myself.

I brought the glass up to my lips, letting the ice numb my top lip as the bittersweet liquor seeped into my gullet. Immediately, I could feel calmness wash over me. I hardly even noticed Mizuki calling my name.

"Aoi, could you look in the mini fridge and get us two cans of soda?"

I swallowed and answered "Sure, what kind?"

As I bent down, I could hear him say "Just any kind is fine."

I snatched two cans from the top shelf and tucked them under my arm. With my free hand, I retrieved my wine glass and sat with the boys.

"Thanks, Aoi," said Mizuki as I handed him his can.

"Thank you," respectfully said Koujaku, although, I noticed his rouge eyes lingered slightly on my bound chest as I leaned in to hand him the can. In that moment, I couldn't help but stifle my irritation to feel a little bit of pity for him. The entire situation must have been very humiliating and awkward for him. He probably feels horrible knowing that he had insulted me. Knowing he was Aoba and Mizuki's childhood friend, he couldn't really be a bad guy. Perhaps I should give him a second chance to redeem himself.

"Say, how is Aoba?" Mizuki asked Koujaku.

"He says he's fine. He doesn't want me hovering over him all day, so I decided to give him some space."

Confused, I found myself asking "Hm? What happened to Aoba?"

Both men looked at me.

"You didn't notice?" questioned Mizuki "Aoba went missing one night."

"What?" I spat out "When?"

"Three days ago," answered Mizuki, only looking more skeptical as to why I was so ignorant of Aoba's vanishing.

"_Three days ago,_" then it hit me "_That's when Minx kidnapped me…_" I sighed "_Of course Aoba pulls a delinquent Houdini stunt the minute I get kidnapped._"

"He said he doesn't remember where he went," Koujaku frowned "Or at least, he just won't say so."

"What happened to him while he was there?" I asked, hating the idea of a naive guy like Aoba getting into anymore Rib team trouble than he already did in his teen years.

"Nothing," said Koujaku, his frown softening "He said he escaped before anything could happen to him."

My nerves eased "Good." Aoba is someone who should run instead of fight.

I took a swig of my wine absent-mindedly as though it were an ordinary glass of juice, not totally ready for the pang of tartness that came with it.

"Huh…" I sighed, slightly in disappointment as I realized that gluttonous swig completely emptied out my glass. I should have suspected so since the majority of the glass' space was consumed by ice cubes. I rose up from my seat to receive a refill.

* * *

"_How long ago did Mizuki say he was going to leave me to close up shop? Hell if I remember, probably three glasses ago,_" Aoi's intoxicated mind struggled to piece together logic as her fingers worked to lock the door to her Rib team's primary hang out spot while her other hand held a plastic cup of more wine.

The pink-haired adult worked for a long time to figure out the simple task, long enough for the jogging woman up ahead of her to notice.

The jogging woman in the grey sweatsuit revealed herself to be Kou as she stopped before Black Needle's building "Aoi?"

This startled the pink-haired adult and caused her to gasp and spill the plastic red cup she held in her free hand on her front.

"Aoi!" Kou gasped upon the sight. This wasn't like her and Kou knew it. "A-Aoi, are you alright?" the dark-haired woman asked, advancing towards the individual. Immediately, the scent of wine hit her nostrils.

"Kou…?" Aoi slurred.

"Aoi, let me take you home and clean you up," said the dark-haired woman as she pulled her arm under Aoi's shoulders "You can rest there for the night, too."

After a few minutes of walking the slightly limp Aoi down the dark street, the adult spoke up again "Kou…I'm getting your clothes dirty…"

"It doesn't matter," the dark-haired woman persisted "They were sweaty to begin with."

* * *

The walk to Kou's home gave Aoi some time to sober up, but also gave her time to get sleepy. It was well past the time when she usually went to bed. The liquor had settled in her body and she was more stable, but not so coordinated anymore.

"Here," Kou gently said as she settled the adult on her bed "I'll get the shower and bath ready."

The dark-haired woman walked into the bathroom connected to her room.

Aoi listened to the sounds of water running and at that moment assumed that Kou had the classic styled Japanese bathroom as opposed to the Western styled bathroom. She had only used that style of bathroom once before in Aoba's house.

When she was alone, a scary realization crept into her mind: "_What if Kou still thinks I'm a man?_" she clutched the fabric over her chest "_Even if she figured out that I'm not, I still didn't get to tell her about my gender myself._"

Mild panic rose in her gut, which only sparked when Kou emerged from the bathroom in her red sports bra and grey sweatpants.

A slightly worried expression knotted her face "Do you need help getting undressed?" she asked.

"I- no," said Aoi, knowing it only looked like just the opposite that she had not removed a single article of clothing.

Aoi brought a shaky hand to her neck tie and carefully pulled one end to undo the entire bow. Next, she slowly hovered her hands over the button of her pants.

She gasped slightly when Kou's gentle hands were on her vest collar "Just relax. I'll help you."

Aoi cursed herself for hesitating so much that it tricked Kou into thinking she was too drunk to even undress herself.

Her breathing shuddered as she watched the red nailed fingers undo her vest's buttons in a quick fashion, although it was relieving to finally get the sticky, wine-soaked fabrics off of her skin. Next came the white blouse, although with how soaked it was, Aoi knew her binder was fully visible through the shirt. It was inevitable, Aoi knew, as she felt the final layer of buttons being undone and her sticky sweet skin being exposed to the air.

She was surprised to see Kou didn't make any sudden facial expressions, even when she kneeled down to slide off Aoi's pants, socks and shoes.

Pink flushed to Kou's face as she made an uncomfortable hum and hesitated, still on her knees.

"Huh?" breathed Aoi.

Kou avoided eye contact "Uhm, can you…are you able to take off your underwear by yourself?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Aoi stood up as Kou turned around to retrieve a towel. Aoi then slid off her briefs, then took off her binder.

"Here's a towel," Kou said, handing the pink-haired adult a white towel.

Aoi accepted it "Thanks," she then walked into the bathroom. She was right to assume it was the classic Japanese style bathroom. A steaming bath was run for her while two shower heads were lined up for use.

Aoi place the towel on a nearby rack, closing the door behind her, and carefully slipped into the bathtub. Unlike most, it was large and round so the water wasn't prone to overflow and spill out.

Aoi shivered as the hot water scorched the dirt off of her skin. She took a moment to relax in the water and even close her eyes. However, they snapped open then second she heard the turn of the door handle.

Aoi didn't react in time to turn around before a stark naked Kou seated herself before a shower head.

The pink-haired adult's choked gasp was drowned out by the sound of the shower head being turned on.

The liquor in Aoi's body prevented her from having a more exasperated reaction. In fact, it was the very thing that kept her calmly lounging in the warm water as Kou scrubbed herself in the shower.

The dark-haired woman, herself, didn't notice Aoi's oddly docile state until after she was finished washing her own hair.

"Aoi, aren't you going to wash yourself?" she asked.

The pink-haired adult didn't respond. She simply gazed out into the water before her with the same sleepy look in her eyes.

"Aoi?"

That's when she finally awoke to her senses "Oh! Sorry…" she grabbed the soap bottle and sponge before her and began to lather some suds. She didn't even notice the sounds of shifting beside her.

"…Huh?"

Kou was stepping into the large, round bathtub along with Aoi "I think I should help you here, too," she said, taking the sponge and the soap bottle from Aoi.

Aoi's breathing hitched as she felt the sponge glide across her back. The drunk adult could feel Kou's hand wrap around her torso to support her. Every so often, that hand would incidentally slither a little too high or a little too low and earn an involuntary flinch from Aoi and a flustered apology from Kou.

Even though Kou knew it was her responsibility to assist her friend in the dangerous situation, she had to admit the scene was very steamy. Swallowing that fact to get the job done proved to be much more difficult for Kou to accomplish than she thought possible. The slightly suggestive sounds of Aoi's breathing only made the task even more difficult.

As Kou began to wash Aoi's legs, resting her chin on the adult's shoulder, Aoi spoke up "Kou…you saw my binder…"

The dark-haired woman continued to wash "Yes."

Aoi hesitated before speaking again "Wh-Why didn't you question it?"

Kou slowed her scrubbing for a moment, then said "Because you're drunk and were in need of a bath, Aoi. Your gender could wait."

Aoi nodded slightly "So…what do you think of me?" her voice wavered slightly as she asked this.

"Would you really like to know?" Kou then maneuvered herself in the tub so she would be sitting in front of Aoi, and then retrieved a face towel "I think you're still as beautiful as when I met you," she said, cradling Aoi's jawline in the warm towel.

The pink-haired adult stared at Kou with her turquoise eyes "Kou…"

Kou smiled "It's the truth," she said wetting more of Aoi's face "But, if you don't mind my asking, what is your gender specifically? A transmale?"

Aoi didn't answer right away, but that was only because she had come two a point where there were two answers to give right now: The Right One and His Choice.

"Actually…I've been bigender all my life," said Aoi "Some days I would be a woman; some days I would be a man."

"Hmm…" Kou made an affirmative hum as she squeezed a facial scrub onto the towel.

"But," Aoi suddenly said "I've come to realize that was a lie…a lie I lived for someone else."

Kou didn't respond. She just absorbed the information as she gently washed Aoi's brown face.

"I've always known I wasn't a complete woman," continued Aoi "But the label "bigender" wasn't the right one."

Kou rinsed the towel of the soap and brought it to Aoi's face to wipe away the soap, finally speaking up again "So, what was the right label for you?"

Aoi spoke the next word like there was no mistake in it "Demigirl."

* * *

"You rejected me."

"How could you?"

"After everything I've done for you."

"Everything I've done for you and your brother."

"…"

"Are you that ungrateful?"

"Do you hate me?"

"…"

"…."

"Don't forget who saved you all those times."

* * *

I woke up with the aftermath of a hangover. It made sense since I had gotten drunk in the late afternoon, so it wasn't that lethal. I've also come to hold my liquor better over the years.

Aside from the mild headache brewing in my skull, the echoes of the statements claimed in my mind lingered as well. Although I couldn't exactly remember what the statements said in my wake, I felt an immense sense of guilt from them, guilt I hadn't felt since I was young.

"Ugh…" I shuffled around slightly in bed, feeling discomfort from the way my neck was positioned. Upon moving, I noticed I wasn't wearing my ordinary clothes. Rather, I was only wearing a very large and loose-fitting robe that seemed to be made of silk.

Suddenly, Kou walked in, wearing a silk gown with an intricate floral pattern and carrying a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Hm? How are you feeling, Aoi?" she asked.

I released a short breath "…Fine," I said.

She set the coffee cup on the nightstand beside me and sat down in bed with me.

I wanted to make a grand show to thank her for all that she had done for me, but at the moment, I was completely weakened and defeated. I couldn't even find the strength within myself to get the coffee placed before me and ease my hangover.

"You clothes are in the washer," she said.

"Thank you," I said "Thank you so much, for everything."

"It's no problem, Aoi," she said.

"No, but, really…" I started out "I really do have to thank you for putting up with me like this."

"Aoi, what kind of friend would I be if I were to just leave you?" questioned Kou "I mean, you'd do the same for me."

Kou then shifted over in bed so she'd be lying right beside me. I was suddenly reminded of the intimate moments we shared in the bathroom. It was in that moment I realized that was the closest I had ever gotten to another woman.

Even now, as I lay in bed with Kou right beside me, nothing separating my naked body from hers besides the two thin layers of her night gown and my silk robe, I realize this is also more intimate than any other interaction I've had with any other female in my life.

"Aoi?"

"Yes?"

"Because you're a demigirl, have I misgendered you by mistake?"

"…No, "she" is just fine…but so is "they"."

"Okay."

* * *

I didn't tell Mizuki that I had gotten drunk at Black Needle that night. There was no use in worrying him, especially since I made a full recovery without his help in the end. Besides, I'm an adult. I had a right to get drunk just once.

Again, Kou walked me home, since I wasn't familiar with where exactly her house was located within the District.

Just as I unlocked the door, I paused and said "Again, I really have to thank you for all you've done for me, Kou."

"Aoi, you really don't have to thank me so much," Kou reassured me "It's nothing."

I felt slight warmth rise to my cheeks at having thanked her so many times. I just couldn't get over my gratitude. I felt like I had to do more for her than just a verbal appreciation.

"Well, I hope to see you soon," she said.

"Same to you," I said, returning to my laid-back tone.

We embraced in a friendly hug, during which, I felt a chaste kiss on my cheek.

Both Kou and I knew it was just an affection kiss between friends, as women were more open in friendships, but I could have sworn I saw a slight flush of pink in Kou's face as she unraveled her arms from me and turned to leave.

I followed a similar pattern and turned to enter my own apartment.

It was rather dark save for the lights of Noiz's computer screens illuminating the front room.

I sat my satchel on the ground, where I was conscious that Rei resided in sleep mode ever since the beginnings of my drinking in the late afternoon the previous day. When I turned her on, she would be completely oblivious to my misadventures.

I then sat myself on the floor beside Noiz, who sat in his bean bag chair.

"Miss me?" I greeted.

"Not a bit."

"Tch, this from the kid who asks me to stay home from school damn near everyday."

Noiz furrowed his brow some in an irritated glance "I'm not a kid," he said with hints of a pout in his voice.

I smiled "Sure, keep telling yourself that while I go out to bars."

The sounds of Noiz's fingers tapping on the keyboard filled my ears as I leaned against his bean bag chair, preparing to doze off again.

"Hey, Aoi."

I suddenly heard Noiz's voice and that pulled me out of my brief daze "Hm?"

"Are you a lesbian now?"

The question shocked a flustered me quite a bit, as it pretty much came out of nowhere. I even jumped up slightly "E-Eh, what?"

"You've been out with all these girls lately," explained Noiz "First you were making out with that bunny girl on my chair. Then that white-haired chick keeps dropping by to see you. Now you're getting all lovey-dovey with the lady in red at the door."

It didn't occur to me until Noiz had said it that my interactions with Sound, Clarity, and Kou would be that obvious, especially when most of my life was spent as a borderline hermit. Now I was pretty much out of the house all hours of the day.

"Well?" pressed Noiz.

I couldn't help but blush madly "What? I can't have women as friends without having my sexuality questioned?"

Noiz only turned his head ever so slightly in my direction as he said "Am I mistaken? You _made out _with the bunny girl in our apartment and judging from that red lipstick mark on your cheek, I don't have to say much else about the lady in red."

I instinctively brought my fingers up to my cheek where Kou kissed me, only to feel the greasy texture of her red lipstick that she always wore on my skin.

Noiz smirked "Hm, and here I thought after that first encounter, we both swung the same way."

It was true. Kou may have been my most intimate experience with a woman, but certainly not the first experience I've had with a _person_.

The very first time I met Noiz was a very seedy encounter. He was supposed to please my body. I was supposed to please his. We were both just street rats who saw each other and thought it was a perfect opportunity for a good fuck. Say what you will about Noiz being soulless and introverted, but the man was good with his hands and tongue. That damn piercing of his would make me go crazy every time it grazed my skin. I was so hot and he hadn't even taken off my clothes yet. However, when he clutched for the manhood that wasn't there, he dropped me onto the cold pavement like I was dead weight.

I remember groaning in agony from the unrequited touch "Why…did you stop…?!" I managed to whine out.

Noiz looked at me with with cold eyes "I only service men," he said.

There was no persuading him afterwards. We just resumed to sit on the cold street curb, where I would watch in envy as he pleased other men in secret, vengeful that he refused to do the same with me. Aside from that, we continued life like any homeless Rib team members and acting as though nothing had ever happened, until fate brought us together once again and gave us this apartment.

"So what? Do you plan on hosting a grand orgy right here in our apartment?" Noiz joked.

My face burned hot "No! Just-" I suppressed a groan "It's none of your business, Noiz."

The blond shrugged, still smirking.

I then tugged on his sleeve "Noiz," I said "On a serious note, there is something I want you to know about."

He regarded me.

"I'm a demigirl now; please only refer to me as "she" or "they"."

Noiz nodded "Sure."

After a few more minutes of lounging on Noiz's bean bag chair, I figured I could head to my own bedroom for some peace of mind. Although, I could only lay down in my bed for so long. Eventually, I found myself taking my binders and placing them in a plastic bag.

It felt like such a waste to throw them all away, but at the same time, I no longer felt any use for them.

* * *

So have you noticed I only referred to Aoi with female pronouns during that third-person scene? Now you know why. Yes, she changed gender identities all on her own and yes, more details will be given as to why she ever identified as male in the first place [though, I'm sure most of you have a good hunch already].


End file.
